Paul Drennan Cravath

Paul Drennan Cravath
Paul Drennan Cravath with daughter Vera circa 1913
Born	July 14, 1861(1861-07-14) Berlin Heights, Ohio
Died	July 1, 1940(1940-07-01) (aged 78) Locust Valley, New York
Nationality	United States
Education	Oberlin College Columbia Law School
Occupation	Lawyer
Known for	The Cravath System
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Spouse	Agnes Huntington (1892–1926)
Children	Vera Agnes Huntington Cravath

Paul Drennan Cravath (July 14, 1861 – July 1, 1940) was a prominent Manhattan lawyer and a partner of the law firm today known as Cravath, Swaine & Moore.^[1]

Biography

He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1886 and was awarded first Municipal Law prize.

He joined the law firm of Blatchford, Seward & Griswold in 1899. His book of business included: Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Kuhn, Loeb & Co., Chemical Bank, E. R. Squibb & Sons, Columbia Gas & Electric, Studebaker Corp.^[2] His name was added to the firm's moniker in 1901.^[3] Cravath was the authoritative head of the firm from 1906 until his death in 1940, and his formal statement of his conceptions of proper management of a law office still control its operations.^[4] Even today, that law firm structure is widely called "the Cravath System."

Paul Cravath was one of the founding officers of the Council on Foreign Relations in 1921. The founding President of the CFR was John W. Davis, a name partner of the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, while Cravath served as the inaugural Vice-President. Cravath became chairman of the Metropolitan Opera in 1931. He died in 1940.^[2]

Legacy

He had a daughter: Vera Agnes Huntington Cravath (1895–1985). She was born on August 28, 1895.^[5] Vera Cravath married at least twice: to Lt. James S. Larkin, about 1917, and to William Francis Gibbs in 1927. She died in Rockport, Massachusetts in July 1985.^[5]

References

1. ^ Richard E. Mendales (July 1, 2001). "Paul Drennan Cravath". American National Biography. http://www.anb.org/articles/11/11-00196.html. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Died". Time magazine. July 8, 1940. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,795074,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-08. "Paul Drennan Cravath, 78, massive, magisterial corporation lawyer, head of one of the nation's greatest law firms, Cravath, de Gersdorif, Swaine & Wood; of a heart attack; in Locust Valley, L. I." 
3. ^ Lawdragon, April 2006
4. ^ Robert Taylor Swaine, The Cravath Firm and Its Predecessors (New York: Ad Press, 1946-48)
5. ^ ^{a b} "Vera Cravath Gibbs, 89, Dies; Was Active in Opera Groups". New York Times. July 30, 1985. http://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/30/arts/vera-cravath-gibbs-89-dies-was-active-in-opera-groups.html. Retrieved 2009-11-30. "Vera Cravath Gibbs, a former member of the board of the Metropolitan Opera Association and widow of William Francis Gibbs, the naval architect, died Saturday at her home in Rockport, Mass., following a heart attack. She was 89 years old." 

External links

• "President Jones". Time Magazine. 1926-03-01. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,729049,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-10. 
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore

• 

  August Belmont II and Paul Cravath in 1913

Persondata
Name	Cravath, Paul D.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 14, 1861
Place of birth	Berlin Heights, Ohio
Date of death	July 1, 1940
Place of death	Locust Valley, New York