Davis Polk Explained

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Headquarters:	450 Lexington Avenue New York City
Num Offices:	10
Offices:	Global
Num Attorneys:	980 (2020)
Key People:	Neil Barr, Managing Partner
Revenue:	$1.77 billion (2020)^[1]

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, commonly known as Davis Polk, is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., Palo Alto, London, Madrid, Brussels, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, and São Paulo. The firm maintains an all-equity partnership, with profits per partner of over $7 million. It is the third most profitable law firm in the world.^[2]

History

Davis Polk traces its origin to a one-man practice in Manhattan opened by a 21-year-old lawyer, Francis N. Bangs. The firm changed its name several times to account for new partners, using names such as Bangs & Stetson; Bangs, Stetson, Tracey & MacVeagh,, Stetson, Jennings & Russell, and Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Gardiner & Reed.^[3] Towards the end of the 19th century, J. P. Morgan hired Francis Stetson, then name partner of the firm, as his chief counsel. During Stetson's tenure, the firm helped Morgan to restructure the Pennsylvania Railroad as well as create General Electric. The modern incarnations of Morgan's business, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, have remained key clients of the firm. Among other high-profile lawyers, President Grover Cleveland served as a member of the firm during the interval between his two non-consecutive presidential terms.^[4]

In 1971, Lydia Kess was the first woman to be promoted to partner, becoming the second female partner at a major Wall Street law firm.^[5]

During the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the firm represented many government clients, including the United States Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the firm had important roles in the AIG, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and Citigroup matters, as well as in the drafting of the Dodd–Frank Act.^{[6] [7]}

In 2009, to bolster its financial regulatory practice, the firm hired three former Securities and Exchange Commission officials: Commissioner Annette Nazareth, Director of Enforcement Linda Chatman Thomsen, and Deputy Director of Trading and Markets Robert Colby—as well as former White House Staff Secretary Raul Yanes and former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation General Counsel John Douglas.^[8]

In November 2023, amid a wave of protests calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War at elite U.S. law schools, Davis Polk & Wardwell was among a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences: "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses."^[9]

Race relations

John W. Davis's legal career is most remembered for his final appearance before the Supreme Court, in which he unsuccessfully defended the "separate but equal" doctrine in Briggs v. Elliott, a companion case to Brown v. Board of Education. Davis, as a defender of racial segregation and state control of education, argued that South Carolina had shown good faith in attempting to eliminate any inequality between black and white schools and should be allowed to continue to do so without judicial intervention.^[10] He expected to win, most likely through a divided Supreme Court, even after the matter was re-argued after the death of Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson. After the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against his client's position, he returned the $25,000 (equivalent to $ in), that he had received from South Carolina, although he was not required to do so, but kept a silver tea service that had been presented to him.^[11] It has also been reported that he never charged South Carolina in the first place.^[12] He declined to participate further in the case, as he did not wish to be involved in the drafting of decrees to implement the Court's decision.^[11]

In Guinn v. United States, as Solicitor General, while he argued against the legality of the "grandfather clause", he conceded the legality of the literacy tests, which was used to disenfranchise African Americans and others.^{[13] [14] [15]}

Recognitions

In March 2007, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) awarded Davis Polk its Heroes Honors 25th Anniversary Award for the corporate pro bono work the firm has done on the organization's behalf.^[16] In October 2008, a Davis Polk team working with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund won a $4.6 million judgment^[17] on behalf of immigrant workers who were being paid below the statutory minimum wage by their employer, a popular Manhattan restaurant.^[18]

In 2010, Davis Polk was ranked third in Revenue per Lawyer by the American Lawyer's top 100 National Firms.^[19] In 2012 and 2013, Davis Polk was named America's Law Firm of the Year by the International Financial Law Review.^[20]

The firm placed 15th on The American Lawyer's 2021 AmLaw 200 ranking, and, on the 2021 Global 200 survey, Davis Polk ranked as the 20th highest grossing law firm in the world.

Notable attorneys and alumni

Current attorneys

Among its current partners and counsel are:

• Uzo Asonye – former Deputy Chief of the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption office of the Eastern District of Virginia and member of the office of special counsel Robert Mueller
• Jon Leibowitz – former chairman, Federal Trade Commission
• Gary Lynch – former director, Enforcement Division, Securities and Exchange Commission, and former vice-chairman and Chief Legal Officer, Morgan Stanley, former vice-chairman, Credit Suisse, and former Global General Counsel, Bank of America
• Neil MacBride – former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia
• Annette Nazareth – former commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission
• Howard Shelanski – former administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
• Linda Chatman Thomsen – former director, Enforcement Division, Securities and Exchange Commission
• Kenneth Wainstein – former Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division, Department of Justice, and former Homeland Security Advisor

Former attorneys

Judiciary

• Ronnie Abrams – U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York^[21]
• Thomas J. Aquilino – Senior Judge, U.S. Court of International Trade
• Richard M. Berman – U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York
• Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum – Senior U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York^[22]
• Denny Chin – U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Second Circuit Court of Appeals
• Hardy Cross Dillard – International Court of Justice
• Warren Eginton – Senior U.S. District Court Judge, District of Connecticut
• Thomas P. Griesa – Senior U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York
• Cheryl Ann Krause – U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Third Circuit Court of Appeals
• J. Michael Luttig – former U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Amy J. St. Eve – U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
• Louis L. Stanton – Senior U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York
• John M. Walker Jr. – U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Second Circuit Court of Appeals
• Lawrence Edward Walsh – former U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York

Elected office

• John Danforth – former U.S. Senator (R-MO) and Ambassador to the United Nations
• Kirsten Gillibrand – U.S. Senator (D-NY)
• Ben McAdams – U.S. Representative, Utah's 4th congressional district
• Terri Sewell – U.S. Representative, Alabama's 7th congressional district
• Chen Show Mao – Member of Singaporean Parliament, Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, Workers' Party of Singapore^[23]
• Mondaire Jones – U.S. Representative-elect, New York's 17th congressional district

Law enforcement and financial regulation

• Jerome Powell – chairman of the Federal Reserve
• Randal Quarles – vice-chairman for Supervision, Federal Reserve
• Paul S. Atkins – former commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission
• Roger W. Ferguson Jr. – former vice-chairman, Federal Reserve System; President & CEO, TIAA-CREF
• Robert B. Fiske – Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
• Samuel Hazard Gillespie Jr. – Former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York^[24]
• Charles E. F. Millard – former director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
• Ogden Livingston Mills – former Secretary of the Treasury
• Lawrence Edward Walsh – former Deputy Attorney General and Independent Counsel, Iran-Contra Investigation

Other government service

• John Bridgeland – former director, United States Domestic Policy Council^[25]
• John W. Davis – former United States Solicitor General; Democratic Presidential Nominee, 1924
• Reuben Jeffery III – Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Charles MacVeagh – former United States Ambassador to Japan
• Richard Moe – president, National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Jennifer Newstead – legal advisor, U.S. Department of State and Former General Counsel, Office of Management and Budget
• Frank Polk – former acting U.S. Secretary of State
• Peter Tufo – former United States Ambassador to Hungary
• John E. Zuccotti – former deputy mayor, New York City; namesake of Zuccotti Park^[26]

Business

• Alexander Cushing – founder and chairman, Ski Corporation^[27]
• Eli Whitney Debevoise – founding partner, Debevoise & Plimpton^[28]
• Tom Glocer – CEO, Thomson Reuters
• Steven Goldstone – former president & CEO, RJR Nabisco
• Robert Harrison – CEO, Clinton Global Initiative^[29]
• Lewis B. Kaden – vice chairman, Citigroup
• H. F. Lenfest – founder, Lenfest Communications
• Charles Li – Chinese banker, former CEO of Hong Kong Stock Exchange
• J. Michael Luttig – general counsel, Boeing
• Axel Miller – chairman & CEO, Dexia S.A.
• David Schwimmer – CEO, London Stock Exchange
• Francis Lynde Stetson – Attorney for John Pierpont Morgan; former president, New York State Bar Association.^[30]
• Andrew Yang – entrepreneur, founder of Venture for America, and 2020 presidential candidate
• Reshma Saujani – founder of Girls Who Code

Media and entertainment

• He Li – Chinese poet

Academia

• George Bermann – director, European Legal Studies Center, Columbia Law School
• Charles Black – professor, Yale Law School
• Brian Casey – president, Colgate University
• Noah Feldman – professor, Harvard Law School
• Victor Fleischer – professor, University of California, Irvine School of Law
• Barry E. Friedman – vice dean, New York University School of Law
• Linda Lorimer – vice president, Yale University
• Jane B. Korn – dean, Gonzaga University School of Law
• Julie O'Sullivan – professor, Georgetown University Law Center
• Saule Omarova – professor, Cornell Law School
  • Jeannie Suk – professor, Harvard Law School David Schizer – professor & dean, Columbia Law School^[31]
• David E. Van Zandt – president, The New School, Former Dean, Northwestern University School of Law
• Mehrsa Baradaran – University of Georgia School of Law professor; author

See also

• List of largest law firms by profits per partner
• White shoe firms

Further reading

• Oller, John, White Shoe: How a New Breed of Wall Street Lawyers Changed Big Business--and the American Century, Penguin Random House, 2019.
• Book: Stewart, James . James B. Stewart . . Simon & Schuster . New York . 1983 . 0-671-42023-2 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Davis Polk. Law.com.
2. Web site: The 2022 Global 100 Ranked by Profits Per Equity Partner . 2023-06-22 . Law.com International . en-us.
3. News: 1925-01-17 . JOHN W. DAVIS HEAD OF HIS LAW FIRM; Stetson, Jennings & Russell Is Now Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Gardiner & Reed. . 2024-07-05 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
4. Allan Nevins, Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage, p.450.
5. Web site: Lat . David . Oy Vey! Milbank Mistakenly Touts 'Only Orthodox Jewish Woman Partner' in Biglaw . . January 5, 2012.
6. Web site: Davis Polk: Making Bank . David . Lat . . September 18, 2008.
7. Web site: For Davis Polk, Dodd–Frank Pays . 2019-03-14 . 2020-10-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201024025632/https://www.davispolk.com/files/uploads/Articles/For.Davis.Polk.Dodd-Frank.Pays.AmLaw.dec10.pdf . dead .
8. News: Davis Polk Recruits Ex-SEC Aide . . April 13, 2009 . Kara . Scannell.
9. News: Sorkin . Andrew Ross . Mattu . Ravi . Warner . Bernhard . Kessler . Sarah . Merced . Michael J. de la . Hirsch . Lauren . Livni . Ephrat . Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus . 2 November 2023 . The New York Times . 2 November 2023.
10. Book: Maruca, Mary . Brown V. Board of Education National Historic Site . 2003 . Western National Parks Association . 978-1-58369-030-7 . en.
11. Book: Kluger, Richard . Simple Justice: the History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle For Equality . Knopf . New York . 1976 . 0-394-47289-6 .
12. Book: Harbaugh, William Henry . Lawyer's Lawyer: the Life of John W. Davis . Oxford University Press . Oxford [Oxfordshire] . 1973 . 507 . 0-19-501699-8 .
13. Web site: Patrice . Joe . 2020-06-17 . Davis Polk Is Named After A Segregationist... Perhaps It's Time To Consider A New Name - Above the Law . 2023-08-30 . en-US.
14. Book: Materson, Lisa G. . For the Freedom of Her Race: Black Women and Electoral Politics in Illinois, 1877-1932 . 2009-03-15 . Univ of North Carolina Press . 978-0-8078-9403-3 . en.
15. Bob Navarro Solicitors General of the United States page 31 https://books.google.com/books?id=0oy3DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Guinn+v+United+States%22+%22John+davis%22&pg=PA31
16. Gay Men's Health Crisis to Commemorate 25 Years of Leadership in the Fight Against AIDS at GMHC Heroes Honors 25th Anniversary Dinner. 9 August 2016. PRNewswire. March 7, 2007.
17. http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/files/saigon_grill_decision.pdf
18. Web site: Baxter. Brian. Davis Polk Hands Big Tip to Saigon Grill Deliverymen. Law.Com(ALM/American Lawyer Magazine). August 11, 2012. October 23, 2008.
19. Web site: The Am Law 100 2010 – Revenue Per Lawyer (RPL) Falls Again . Law.com . 2012-09-09 . 2012-10-09.
20. News: Davis Polk Wins Again at IFLR Americas Awards . International Financial Law Review . March 22, 2013.
21. News: Lattman . Peter . July 29, 2011 . Davis Polk Lawyer Nominated for Federal Bench . .
22. News: LUBASCH . ARNOLD H. . July 26, 1985 . WALL ST. LAWYER WINS BACKING FOR U.S. JUDGEh . .
23. News: Han Wong . Chun . May 6, 2011 . Candidate Q&A: Chen Show Mao . .
24. News: GRIMES . WILLIAM . March 8, 2011 . S. Hazard Gillespie, Former U.S. Attorney, Dies at 100 . .
25. News: Easton . Nina J. . March 27, 2002 . The Wings of an Idea . .
26. News: DUNLAP . DAVID W. . February 25, 1996 . Lawyers Who Mold The Shape of a City . .
27. News: August 21, 2006 . Alex Cushing, Founder of Squaw Valley, Dies . .
28. News: HEVESI . DENNIS . July 1, 1990 . Eli Whitney Debevoise Dies at 90; Co-Founder of a Top Law Firm . .
29. Web site: CGI Leadership . 2012-08-12 . Clintonglobalinitiative.org.
30. Francis L. Stetson, Lawyer, Dies at 74,' New York Times, December 6, 1920
31. Web site: David M. Schizer . 21 January 2018 . Columbia Law School.