White & Case

Infobox Law Firm
firm_name = White & Case LLP
firm_
headquarters =
num_offices = 38 total, 33 international
num_attorneys = 2,080 (2007)
num_employees = approx. 4,800 total
practice_areas = General practice
key_people = Hugh Verrier, managing partner [http://www.whitecase.com/hverrier/ Verrier's firm bio]
revenue =
date_founded = 1901
founder =
company_type = Limited liability partnership
firm_slogan = Worldwide. For our clients.
homepage = [http://www.whitecase.com/ whitecase.com]
dissolved =

White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with 2,300 lawyers in 38 offices in 25 countries and a total staff of more than 4,800.

Founded in New York in 1901, White & Case was among the first law firms of American origin to establish a truly global presence.

The firm offers US, English and local law capability, providing counsel and representation in virtually every area of law that affects cross-border business -- from international commercial and financial transactions to dispute resolution.

An ability to handle complex, cross-border matters distinguishes White & Case from many other firms. As well as a presence in the world’s major business and financial centers, the firm has a strong practice in emerging markets such as Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Clients of White & Case include public and privately held businesses, financial institutions, governments and state-owned entities.

White & Case's global revenue in 2006 was US$1.185 billion. As of 2006, this made it the tenth largest law firm in the world by revenue. The American Lawyer ranked the firm sixth by revenue in the United States in its annual AmLaw 100 financial survey, published in May 2007.

History

On May 1st 1901, two Wall Street lawyers, Justin DuPratt White, 31, and George B. Case, 28, contributed $250 each to launch White & Case.

White had only apprenticed at a law firm and never attended law school. Case had graduated from Columbia Law School four years earlier, but they shared a vision of what a law firm should be, as well as the friendship of one of the era’s most influential men: J.P. Morgan & Co. financier Henry “Harry” Davison.

Davison hired White & Case to organize Bankers Trust Company, a client relationship that endures through its successor, Deutsche Bank. Davison retained White & Case to represent a series of banking ventures and provide legal services to many of the companies financed by J.P. Morgan, including U.S. Steel.

During World War I, the British and French governments hired J.P. Morgan & Co. to purchase war materials in the United States on their behalf. White & Case handled the legal work, writing contracts with nearly 1,000 US suppliers. By the war’s end, some $3 billion of armaments had been channeled to the British and French military -- nearly half of all US supplies sold to the Allies during the Great War. In recognition of the firm’s efforts, the French government made DuPratt White a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Between the Wars

George Case, at the behest of Harry Davison and President Woodrow Wilson, served on the Red Cross’s War Council, helping to transform it from a small charity into an international institution. The firm opened an office in Paris on the Place Vendôme in 1926 to better serve the growing organization.

From the outset, this tradition of pro bono service was deeply ingrained within the fabric of White & Case. In 1900, White became a commissioner of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, formed to preserve the majestic wooded cliffs along the Hudson River. Supporters of the project included Pierpont Morgan, railroad magnate Edward Harriman and John D. Rockefeller Jr.. But according to "The New York Times", it was White who served as “the guiding figure” in the commission’s work, handling its legal affairs free of charge for more than 30 years.

Colonel Joseph Hartfield, who joined the firm in 1905, eventually heading it from the early 1950s until 1964, was also noted for his community service. A colorful character, Hartfield was physically diminutive, one of the first Jewish lawyers to reach the pinnacle of a major New York firm, and was renowned for his annual celebratory trips to the Kentucky Derby.

In 1935, at the request of socialite and White & Case client August Belmont, Jr., Hartfield became an officer of the newly formed Metropolitan Opera Guild, helping to guide the Met through the Depression, including avoiding bankruptcy. He served as director and member of the Met’s executive committee, and today his efforts are recognized by a plaque on the Grand Tier railing of the Metropolitan Opera House honoring his contributions.

Perhaps the premier exponent of the firm’s pro bono commitment in the second half of the firm’s first century was senior partner Orison Marden, who practiced law at White & Case for more than 45 years. Marden fervently believed in making legal services available to all people in the United States regardless of means. He served as longtime director and chairman of the board of The Legal Aid Society. That organization honors his memory through its annual Orison S. Marden Award, bestowed upon a staff attorney for outstanding dedication and service.

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York Fund annually hosts the Orison S. Marden Memorial Lecture, focused on professional ethics and increasing the availability of legal services to the indigent.

World War II and Post-War Growth

With World War II came new challenges for White & Case. In 1940, Paul Pennoyer, then head of the firm’s Paris office, faced the daunting task of winding up the firm’s business even as German tanks approached the city’s outskirts. When he was ordered back to New York, Pennoyer tucked in his pocket the stock certificates of French cosmetics company Lanvin. It was a risky move—whoever had physical possession of the bearer certificates could vote the shares—but it allowed Lanvin to operate outside Europe throughout the war.

The postwar years brought many high-profile matters to the firm. In 1960, Pennoyer reopened the Paris office, beginning the global expansion that continues to the present.

White & Case represented Aramco, which held the concession to develop and produce Saudi Arabia’s massive oil reserves, when the company was served with a federal grand jury subpoena in an investigation of alleged worldwide oil cartels. No action against the company resulted from those grand jury proceedings, and an enduring relationship between Saudi Aramco and White & Case had begun.

In 1954, White & Case represented the sellers in the $51.5 million sale of the Empire State Building, then one of the largest real estate transactions in New York City history.

The 1963 “salad oil scandal” was dubbed by The Wall Street Journal “one of the biggest swindles in history”. It involved a vegetable oil dealer who defrauded customers and lenders, including an American Express subsidiary that had issued fraudulent warehouse receipts certifying the existence of oil. Among the dealer's techniques were moving oil between tanks so it could be double-counted and installing false-bottom cylinders to create the illusion that the tank was full. White & Case represented Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co., the largest creditor in the matter, with $20 million of outstanding loans. The case resulted in one of the largest financial settlements in history at the time, in which American Express paid its creditors $57.9 million in cash and up to $30 million of recoveries from insurance and other sources.

The Hurlock Years and Global Expansion

Few individuals changed the firm more than James Hurlock, who shaped the firm’s global presence and structure as its head from 1980 until 2000. Visionary and demanding, Hurlock was a Rhodes Scholar and spent 10 of his first 16 years with White & Case in Europe.

Two early negotiations helped establish the reputation of the firm’s sovereign practice, which represents a large number of nations, particularly in the former Communist and other emerging markets. During that time, Hurlock helped Indonesia reschedule more than $10 billion of debt, mostly held by foreign banks, when state oil company Pertamina was unable to meet payments. The firm also helped Turkey reschedule debt incurred after the Turkish central bank accepted Turkish lira deposits convertible into hard western currencies.

White & Case began opening offices in business and financial centers around the world, including Brussels in 1967; London in 1971; Washington DC in 1978; Hong Kong in 1978; Singapore and Stockholm in 1983; Ankara and Istanbul in 1985; Los Angeles in 1986; Miami and Tokyo in 1987.

When the Berlin Wall fell in late 1989, the firm moved quickly to open offices in Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Bratislava and Moscow and was selected by the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia to provide representation in their mass privatization programs.

In 1991, the firm opened an office in Mexico City. Helsinki (Finland) followed in 1992, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Bangkok (Thailand) in 1993, Almaty (Kazakhstan) in 1994, Johannesburg (South Africa) in 1995, and São Paulo (Brazil) in 1997. In all these markets, White & Case remains one of only a small number of international law firms to have successfully established a presence.

White & Case was also one of the first law firms to spot the growing potential of the Chinese market, adding offices in Shanghai (2000) and Beijing (2004) to its Hong Kong-led Asian network.

From the beginning, foreign offices were regarded as an integral part of the firm. Jean-Luc Boussard, who joined White & Case in 1975, became the first European partner in 1982. Today, the majority of the firm's partners are based outside the United States.

Mergers and lateral recruitment also became part of the firm’s strategy. In 1998, White & Case merged with Brussels’ Forrester, Norall & Sutton, focusing on European Union law. The Brussels office today is a recognized leader in this area of practice.

The 21st Century

Partner Duane Wall assumed leadership of White & Case in 2000, and presided over further expansion of the firm, especially in Europe, where the firm opened in Italy (Milan, 2001) and merged with one of Germany’s largest firms, Feddersen. There were initially five German offices absorbed into White & Case (Frankfurt, Berlin, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Hamburg) although the network was extended in 2006 with the addition of space in the growing technology centre of Munich at the expense of the disbanding German firm, Haarmann Hemmelrath.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, White & Case was one of five firms that formed a steering group to coordinate the efforts of New York lawyers to provide free emergency legal services to victims.

In 2005, for the first time, White & Case broke through the US$1 billion revenue barrier and also became home to more than 2000 lawyers.

Since 2000, the London office of White & Case has expanded considerably and now has a legal staff of more than 300. White & Case was one of the first US firms to establish a London office, in 1971, and was one of the first foreign firms to qualify when the Law Society of England and Wales changed its rules in 1993 to allow English and registered foreign lawyers to practice together in partnership. The London office offers both English and US-qualified lawyers and strong practices in the areas of banking and finance, capital markets, M&A, project finance and dispute resolution.

New Management Team in 2007

On October 1st 2007, White & Case unveiled a new leadership team, led by Chairman Hugh Verrier. Previously head of the firm's Moscow office, Verrier was elected by the partnership in August 2007. The firm’s new Executive Committee, which acts as the executive decision-making body, includes Verrier and three appointed partners: Anthony Kahn, Dimitrios Drivas and Asli Basgoz.

Key Practice Areas

*Antitrust
*Asset Finance
*Bank Advisory
*Bank Finance
*Capital Markets/Securities
*Construction and Engineering
*Corporate
*Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance
*Environmental
*European Union
*Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits
*Financial Restructuring and Insolvency
*Global Equity Based Compensation
*Insurance
*Intellectual Property
*International Arbitration
*International Trade
*Investment Funds
*Labor, Employment, and Immigration Law
*Legislative/Law Reform
*Litigation
*Mergers and Acquisitions
*Outsourcing
*Privacy
*Private Clients
*Private Equity
*Privatization
*Public Finance
*Public International Law
*Real Estate
*Securitization
*Sovereign
*Tax
*Telecommunications, Media, and Technology
*Trade and Commodity Finance
*White Collar

References

External links

* [http://www.whitecase.com/ Official Firm Website]