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==White Shoe firms==
==White Shoe firms==
In American slang, a "[[white shoe]]" business is an old established, high prestige, typically [[White Anglo Saxon Protestant]] (WASP) institution. They hired very well-dressed men (occasionally wearing white buckskin shoes with red soles) with good family connections and new degrees from top-of-the-line law schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. They emerged in the late 19th century, and were usually based in New York or Boston or Philadelphia, where they catered to emerging major corporations. They were especially in demand from major railroads, that were built through complicated consolidations, and faced complex legal problems in multiple states. Previously, law firms were small operations with two or three partners and a handful of clerks. The new corporations were much too large, too complex, and spread over too many legal jurisdictions for a small firm. A key innovator was [[Paul Cravath]], who made his reputation and handling complex lawsuits for the new electrical industry. He not only enlarged the law office but he professionalized it, with full-time professional librarians, with the recruiting system focused on leading law schools, and with partners who specialized in particular complex topics. A career system was set up whereby junior people were carefully hired, then were closely supervised by the senior partners, and after a half-dozen years either departed, or were made junior partners with the share of the firm's profits.<ref>John Oller, ''White Shoe: How a New Breed of Wall Street Lawyers Changed Big Business and the American Century'' (2019) ch. 1.</ref> The WASP dominance persisted until after 1945, when a number of major Jewish law firms attained elite status in dealing with top -ranked corporations. <ref>Eli Wald, "The rise and fall of the WASP and Jewish law firms." ''Stanford Law Review'' 60 (2007): 1803-1866.</ref>
In American slang, a "[[white shoe]]" business is an old established, high prestige, typically [[White Anglo Saxon Protestant]] (WASP) institution. They hired very well-dressed men (occasionally wearing white buckskin shoes with red soles) with good family connections and new degrees from top-of-the-line law schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. They emerged in the late 19th century, and were usually based in New York or Boston or Philadelphia, where they catered to emerging major corporations. They were especially in demand from major railroads, that were built through complicated consolidations, and faced complex legal problems in multiple states. Previously, law firms were small operations with two or three partners and a handful of clerks. The new corporations were much too large, too complex, and spread over too many legal jurisdictions for a small firm. A key innovator was [[Paul Cravath]], who made his reputation and handling complex lawsuits for the new electrical industry. He not only enlarged the law office but he professionalized it, with full-time professional librarians, with the recruiting system focused on leading law schools, and with partners who specialized in particular complex topics. A career system was set up whereby junior people were carefully hired, then were closely supervised by the senior partners, and after a half-dozen years either departed, or were made junior partners with the share of the firm's profits.<ref>John Oller, ''White Shoe: How a New Breed of Wall Street Lawyers Changed Big Business and the American Century'' (2019) ch. 1.</ref> Very few Jews were hired by the WASP forms, but they started their own. The WASP dominance ended when a number of major Jewish law firms attained elite status in dealing with top -ranked corporations. As late as 1950 there was not a single large Jewish law firm in New York City. However by 1965 six of the 20 largest firms were Jewish; by 1980 four of the ten largest were Jewish. <ref>Eli Wald, "The rise and fall of the WASP and Jewish law firms." ''Stanford Law Review'' 60 (2007): 1803-1866; discrimination p. 1838 and statistics page 1805.</ref>
===Law firms===
===White Shoe firms===


* [[Arnold & Porter]]<ref>https://whiteshoefirms.wordpress.com</ref><ref>https://abovethelaw.com/careers/2017-power-100-law-firm-rankings/</ref>
* [[Arnold & Porter]]<ref>https://whiteshoefirms.wordpress.com</ref><ref>https://abovethelaw.com/careers/2017-power-100-law-firm-rankings/</ref>

Revision as of 23:25, 22 March 2019

The History of the American legal profession covers the work and training and professional activities of lawyers from the colonial era to the present. lawyers grew increasingly powerful in the colonial era, as experts in the English common law which was adopted and all of the colonies. By the 21st century over 1 million practitioners in the United States held law degrees, and many others serve the professional profession as paralegals, marshalls and other aides.

White Shoe firms

In American slang, a "white shoe" business is an old established, high prestige, typically White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) institution. They hired very well-dressed men (occasionally wearing white buckskin shoes with red soles) with good family connections and new degrees from top-of-the-line law schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. They emerged in the late 19th century, and were usually based in New York or Boston or Philadelphia, where they catered to emerging major corporations. They were especially in demand from major railroads, that were built through complicated consolidations, and faced complex legal problems in multiple states. Previously, law firms were small operations with two or three partners and a handful of clerks. The new corporations were much too large, too complex, and spread over too many legal jurisdictions for a small firm. A key innovator was Paul Cravath, who made his reputation and handling complex lawsuits for the new electrical industry. He not only enlarged the law office but he professionalized it, with full-time professional librarians, with the recruiting system focused on leading law schools, and with partners who specialized in particular complex topics. A career system was set up whereby junior people were carefully hired, then were closely supervised by the senior partners, and after a half-dozen years either departed, or were made junior partners with the share of the firm's profits.[1] Very few Jews were hired by the WASP forms, but they started their own. The WASP dominance ended when a number of major Jewish law firms attained elite status in dealing with top -ranked corporations. As late as 1950 there was not a single large Jewish law firm in New York City. However by 1965 six of the 20 largest firms were Jewish; by 1980 four of the ten largest were Jewish. [2]

White Shoe firms

See also

Notes

  1. ^ John Oller, White Shoe: How a New Breed of Wall Street Lawyers Changed Big Business and the American Century (2019) ch. 1.
  2. ^ Eli Wald, "The rise and fall of the WASP and Jewish law firms." Stanford Law Review 60 (2007): 1803-1866; discrimination p. 1838 and statistics page 1805.
  3. ^ https://whiteshoefirms.wordpress.com
  4. ^ https://abovethelaw.com/careers/2017-power-100-law-firm-rankings/
  5. ^ Stracher, Cameron (March 24, 2000). "The Law Firm's New Clothes". New York Times.
  6. ^ Lin, Anthony (February 6, 2007). "Does the Future Belong to Cadwalader?". New York Law Journal.
  7. ^ Rost, Peter (September 12, 2007). "Covington & Burling, a Pfizer law firm, caught cleaning up its reputation on Wikipedia". BrandweekNRX.
  8. ^ Martinez, Jose (March 3, 2006). "Shoes are whiter than most in city". NY Daily News. New York.
  9. ^ Moyer, Elizabeth (October 26, 2005). "Dimon Woos Mergers Lawyer Hersch To JPMorgan". Forbes.com.
  10. ^ Labaton, Stephen (September 24, 1989). "Rainmaker: Mario Baeza of Debevoise". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Herman, Eric (July 1, 2002). "Scandal Draws Top Lawyers". New York Daily News.
  12. ^ McMorrow, Paul (March 25, 2014). "Seaport Moving in Direction of Back Bay". Boston Globe.
  13. ^ McMorrow, Paul (December 25, 2012). "Seaport is Rising, but Not From Tech". Boston Globe.
  14. ^ Dougherty, Carter. "The Israeli Connection". VirtualCXO.
  15. ^ Hobbs, Meredith (7 April 2008). "Daily Report Dozen: King & Spalding". Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  16. ^ Dolor, Sol. "King & Spalding takes Clifford Chance PE head". Australasian Lawyer. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  17. ^ Scheiber, Noam (21 July 2013). "The Last Days of Big Law". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  18. ^ Standard, Pacific (19 May 2015). "Are You Getting Paid What You're Worth?". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  19. ^ McKay, Peter A.; Mollenkamp, Carrick (10 April 2006). "Refco Suits Spotlight White-Shoe Law Firm's Role". Retrieved 20 December 2016 – via Wall Street Journal.
  20. ^ Weiss, Gary (March 4, 2002). "Commentary: Et Tu, Enron Lawyers?". Businessweek.
  21. ^ "The Elite Face-Off: NY vs. London - Adam Smith, Esq". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  22. ^ "Cuomo Picks Maria Vullo as State's Top Financial Watchdog". The New York Times. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  23. ^ Qualters, Sheri (August 29, 2007). "Humor Helps the Firm Go Video". The National Law Journal.
  24. ^ "White & Case hires a partner and a counsel from Shearman in Frankfurt | IFLR1000". www.iflr1000.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  25. ^ Nelson, Katie (November 2, 2009). "NY Daily News". New York.
  26. ^ "Chicago Tribune". November 11, 2009.
  27. ^ Schneider-Mayerson, Anna (February 18, 2007). "Associate Gets Crushed Beneath White Shoe". New York Observer.
  28. ^ "History of White & Case LLP – FundingUniverse". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  29. ^ Morgan, Spencer (April 7, 2009). "Andy Spade Is a Giant in New York". New York Observer.
  30. ^ van der Pool, Lisa (July 1, 2011). "Bill Lee: Still making his case". Boston Business Journal.
  31. ^ Hawkins, Asher (June 28, 2010). "SEC's Revolving Door Often Spins More Than Once". Forbes.

Further reading

  • Chroust, Anton-Hermann. Rise of the Legal Profession in America (2 vol 1965), covers the colonial and early national period down to 1820.
  • Friedman, Lawrence M. American Law in the twentieth century (Yale University Press, 2004) especially chapters 2 and 15 on the legal profession.
  • Kaczorowski, Robert J. "Fordham University School of Law: A Case Study of Legal Education in Twentieth-Century America." Fordham Law Review 87 (2018): 861+. online
  • McMorrow, Judith A. "Law and Lawyers in the US: The Hero-Villain Dichotomy." Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper 213 (2010). online
  • Newman, Roger K. The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law (2009)
  • Oldman, Mark,ed. The Vault.com Guide to America's Top 50 Law Firms (1998)
  • Oller, John. White Shoe: How a New Breed of Wall Street Lawyers Changed Big Business and the American Century (2019), excerpt

Primary sources

  • Wortman, Marlene Stein, ed. Women in American Law: From Colonial Times to the New Deal (1985), text of 163 documents
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