Sullivan & Cromwell boasts a pedigree as one of the most revered legal brands on the global stage. A towering full-service firm, with concentration on the East and West Coasts through its offices in New York, Washington DC and two offices in California – Palo Alto and Los Angeles. While its offerings extend beyond litigation, Sullivan & Cromwell’s dispute-resolution depth and acuity is called into service by some of the firm’s biggest blue-chip clients. “When people talk about law firms to someone who’s not a lawyer, often they will just randomly throw out ‘Sullivan & Cromwell’ as an example because the name carries that much weight, like Coca-Cola or Apple,” marvels one peer. “We should all be so lucky.” Speaking to the firm’s A-list client base, another peer quips, “Goldman Sachs has them on speed-dial. S&C has that premium work on lockdown.”
The firm has made a substantial play in the bankruptcy sphere as of late, which was on full display two years ago with a firm team including
James Bromley and Jacob Croke leading efforts at FTX, as Chapter 11 debtor, to investigate the events that led to the company’s embattled crypto entity’s collapse, assist government authorities in their probes and organize hundreds of potential litigations to recover assets. To date, the firm team has helped identify and recover $7.4 billion in liquid assets for FTX and has identified other potential claims that FTX could bring. This appointment is remarkable not only due to the highly scrutinized nature of the client and the claims involved, but also more generally due to the firm’s pronounced elevation in the bankruptcy practice. “Ten years ago, even five years ago, Sullivan & Cromwell was not known for bankruptcy, and they didn’t seem like they wanted to be,” asserts a peer, “but wow, now they are on the bankruptcy map in a big way. After that, I expect there will be more [work for the firm.]”
In the securities capacity, New York’s Robert Giuffra scored for Ericsson in a putative securities class action in which the lead plaintiff alleged that the telecom entity and certain of its directors made false or misleading statements by failing to disclose an internal investigation in which the DoJ found that Ericsson had breached a 2019 deferred-prosecution agreement related to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in six countries. When the media reported on this internal report in February 2022, Ericsson’s market cap plunged by billions of dollars, whereupon the plaintiffs brought suit. In a decision issued in May 2023, the Eastern District of New York concluded that Ericsson did not violate any disclosure obligation to investors. An appeal followed, and in September 2024, the Second Circuit affirmed the case’s dismissal. “Bob Giuffra is high-energy and fast, but savvy” observes a peer. “He knows when to try a case and he also knows how and when to pull back. I’ve seen judges get stunned by his courtroom abilities – like, who has this much stamina? So you almost get thrown off guard when you see how measured and reasonable he is. Maybe it’s a tactic – if so, it works.”
Sharon Nelles, another New York all-purpose luminary, represented a majority shareholder entity in Rocket Companies and certain officers and directors in obtaining a victory on price impact in the Sixth Circuit in October 2024 when after the court denied class certification in a securities fraud and insider- trading action. Nelles and DC-based appellate specialist Jeffrey Wall acted for eBay, against whom the DoJ filed an action on behalf of the EPA arguing that in recent years there were sales on eBay of aftermarket emission-defeat devices in violation of the Clean Air Act; pesticides in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and products containing methylene chloride in violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act. eBay disputed the claims, noting that in all three of those statutes, Congress imposed liability on sellers. In September 2024, the Eastern District of New York dismissed the suit in its entirety. “It’s hard going against Sharon,” confides a peer, “but that’s because she’s so tough! She’s a fantastic lawyer.” Steve Peikin, a New York-based securities and white-collar star, is touted by a peer as “very accomplished, and someone who should become one of the leaders of that firm.” Another peer makes mention of the firm’s labor and employment practice, particularly Ann-Elizabeth Ostrager, who “has been impressive in growing that department, which deserves more recognition.”
