White-shoe firm explained

In the United States, white-shoe firm is a term used to describe prestigious professional services firms that have been traditionally associated with the upper-class elite who graduated from Ivy League colleges. (The term comes from white buckskin derby shoes (bucks), once the style among the men from the upper-class.) The term is most often used to describe leading old-line law firms and Wall Street financial institutions, as well as accounting firms that are over a century old, typically in New York City and Boston.[1] As Ivy League elites, it implied that there was also a cultural homogeneity associated with White Anglo-Saxon Protestant men, but the term is now used more as a matter of long-established, high-end firms, especially those working in complicated business matters.

Former Wall Street attorney John Oller, author of White Shoe, credits Paul Drennan Cravath with creating the distinct model adopted by virtually all white-shoe law firms, the Cravath System, just after the turn of the 20th century, about 50 years before the phrase white-shoe firm came into use.[2]

Etymology

The phrase derives from "white bucks", laced suede or buckskin (or Nubuck) derby shoes, usually with a red sole, long popular among the student body of Ivy League colleges.[3] A 1953 Esquire article, describing social strata at Yale University, explained that "White Shoe applies primarily to the socially ambitious and the socially smug types who affect a good deal of worldly sophistication, run, ride and drink in rather small cliques, and look in on the second halves of football games when the weather is good."[4] The Oxford English Dictionary cites the phrase "white-shoe college boys" in the J.D. Salinger novel Franny and Zooey (1957) as the first use of the term: "Phooey, I say, on all white-shoe college boys who edit their campus literary magazines. Give me an honest con man any day."[5] It also appears in a 1958 Fortune article by Spencer Klaw, which describes some firms as having "a predilection for young men who are listed in the Social Register. These firms are called 'white-shoe outfits', a term derived from the buckskin shoes that used to be part of the accepted uniform at certain eastern prep schools and colleges."[6]

Usage

The term originated in Ivy League colleges and originally reflected a stereotype of old-line firms that were populated by White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). The term historically had antisemitic connotations, as many of the New York firms known as white-shoe were considered inaccessible to Jewish lawyers until the 1960s.[7] [8] The phrase has since lost some of this connotation, but is still defined by Princeton University's WordNet as "denoting a company or law firm owned and run by members of the WASP elite who are generally conservative".[9] Most white-shoe firms also excluded Roman Catholics.[10] [11] [12] [13] A 2010 column in The Economist described the term as synonymous with "big, old, east-coast and fairly traditional."[14] In the 21st century, the term is sometimes used in a general sense to refer to firms that are perceived as prestigious or high-quality; it is also sometimes used in a derogatory manner to denote stodginess, elitism, or a lack of diversity.

Examples

The following U.S. firms are often referred to as being white-shoe firms:

Accountancy

The current Big Four accounting firms and the former Big Eight auditors from which they merged:

The only former Big Eight firm not merged into one of the Big Four was Arthur Andersen, which went out of business in 2002 after the Enron scandal.

Banking

Traditional:
Modern:

Management consultancies

The Big Three (management consultancies), colloquially known as "MBB", consisting of the largest management consulting firms by revenue:

Law

Traditional:
ModernWhile the term "white-shoe" historically applied only to those law firms populated by WASPs, usage of the term has since been expanded to other top-rated prestigious firms. Many of these firms were founded as a direct result of the exclusionary tendencies of the original white-shoe firms, which provided limited opportunities for Jewish and Catholic lawyers, as well as other non-WASPs, and include:

Equivalent law firms outside the United States

Australia: Big Six: In 2012, three of these firms merged with overseas firms, and one other began operating in association with an overseas firm. As a consequence, it has proposed that the term is no longer applicable to the Australian legal profession, displaced by the concept of Global Elite law firms or International Business law firms.[59]
  • Brazil: Grandes Firmas: Pinheiro Neto Advogados: Mattos Filho Advogados : Machado Meyer Advogados: Tozzini Freire Advogados: Veirano Advogados
  • Canada: Seven Sisters
  • China (People's Republic): Red Circle, coined by The Lawyer magazine in 2014.[60]
  • Japan: Big Four
  • South Africa: Big Five
  • Singapore: Big Four
  • United Kingdom (centered on the City of London):

    • Further reading

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. News: On Language; Gimme the Ol' White Shoe. William. Safire. Nov 9, 1997. Sep 2, 2021. NYTimes.com.
    2. News: Levinson . Marc . 'White Shoe' Review: Lawyering Up the 20th Century (book review) . 22 March 2019 . The Wall Street Journal . 20 March 2019.
    3. News: William Safire. William . Safire. On Language; Gimme the Ol' White Shoe. New York Times. November 9, 1997.
    4. Web site: Chensvold. Christian. Russell Lynes On The Shoe Hierarchy, Esquire 1953. Ivy Style. 16 June 2016.
    5. Web site: Chensvold. Christian. How The White-Shoe Law Firm Got Its Name. Ivy Style. 4 August 2020.
    6. Web site: New Jersey State Bar Journal. June 25, 1957. New Jersey State Bar Association.. Google Books.
    7. News: Chambliss. Elizabeth. THE SHOE STILL FITS. June 16, 2016. Legal Affairs. 2005.
    8. News: Stelzer. Irwin M.. Remembering the 'White-Shoe Firm'. June 16, 2016. The Weekly Standard. February 8, 2016.
    9. Web site: white-shoe. Princeton University. WordNet.
    10. Book: Pulera, Dominic. Sharing the Dream: White Males in Multicultural America. October 20, 2004. A&C Black. 9780826416438. Google Books.
    11. News: President Trump's reference to 'paddy wagon' insults Irish Americans like me . The Washington Post . 2017-08-01 . 2021-09-02.
    12. Web site: Italian Americans: The Progressive Tradition-Reflections on Gerald Meyer's Presentation at the New Haven Public Library. March 20, 2021.
    13. Web site: Raise a St. Patrick's Day glass to 'Wild Bill' Donovan, the greatest Irish American. March 17, 2020. Washington Examiner.
    14. News: Frozen-term watch: "white-shoe". June 16, 2016. The Economist. September 3, 2010.
    15. Web site: White-Shoe Shuffle . 2008-06-01 . Surowiecki . James . 1998-06-15 . . New York Media LLC.
    16. Web site: The Perils of J.P. Morgan . https://web.archive.org/web/20020213105142/http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_03/b3766089.htm . dead . February 13, 2002 . 2008-06-01 . Timmons . Heather . Christopher Palmieri . 2002-01-21 . . McGraw-Hill Education.
    17. Web site: April 17, 2005. Finfacts Ireland. Morgan Stanley's 'white-shoe' dissidents continue war of attrition.
    18. News: Creswell . Julie . White . Ben . Wall Street, R.I.P.: The End of an Era, Even at Goldman . 4 January 2022 . The New York Times . 27 September 2008.
    19. Web site: Kenton . Will . White Shoe Firm . Investopedia . 20 July 2021.
    20. News: Andrew Ross. Sorkin. December 11, 2005. They're All Paying Customers to Wall Street. The New York Times.
    21. News: Creswell . Julie . White . Ben . Wall Street, R.I.P.: The End of an Era, Even at Goldman . 4 January 2022 . The New York Times . 27 September 2008.
    22. Web site: 2017 Power 100 Law Firm Rankings. Above the Law. en-US. 2019-04-25.
    23. News: Cameron . Stracher. March 24, 2000. The Law Firm's New Clothes . New York Times.
    24. Web site: Peter. Rost. BrandweekNRX. September 12, 2007. Covington & Burling, a Pfizer law firm, caught cleaning up its reputation on Wikipedia.
    25. News: Jose. Martinez. March 3, 2006. NY Daily News. Shoes are whiter than most in city . New York.
    26. News: Elizabeth . Moyer . October 26, 2005. Dimon Woos Mergers Lawyer Hersch To JPMorgan. Forbes.com.
    27. News: Stephen . Labaton. Rainmaker: Mario Baeza of Debevoise. The New York Times. September 24, 1989.
    28. News: Gary. Weiss. March 4, 2002. Commentary: Et Tu, Enron Lawyers?. https://web.archive.org/web/20020416153117/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_09/b3772098.htm . dead . April 16, 2002 . Businessweek.
    29. News: Sheri . Qualters. The National Law Journal. August 29, 2007. Humor Helps the Firm Go Video.
    30. News: Top Law Schols . New York . April 2011.
    31. News: NY Daily News . New York . Katie . Nelson . November 2, 2009.
    32. News: Chicago Tribune . November 11, 2009.
    33. Book: John Oller. White Shoe: How a New Breed of Wall Street Lawyers Changed Big Business and the American Century. 2019. 565. 9781524743277.
    34. News: Anna . Schneider-Mayerson. Associate Gets Crushed Beneath White Shoe. https://web.archive.org/web/20080726161911/http://www.observer.com/node/36757 . dead . July 26, 2008 . New York Observer. February 18, 2007.
    35. Web site: History of White & Case LLP – FundingUniverse. 20 December 2016.
    36. News: Spencer . Morgan. April 7, 2009. Andy Spade Is a Giant in New York. https://web.archive.org/web/20090410052832/http://www.observer.com/2009/style/andy-spade-giant-new-york . dead . April 10, 2009 . New York Observer.
    37. News: Lisa . van der Pool. July 1, 2011. Bill Lee: Still making his case. Boston Business Journal.
    38. News: Asher . Hawkins. June 28, 2010. SEC's Revolving Door Often Spins More Than Once. Forbes.
    39. Web site: Caroline Ellison Hires SEC’s Former Top Crypto Cop for FTX probe. 10 December 2022. www.bloomberg.com.
    40. News: Bryon. Tau. POLITICO. July 21, 2014. Akin Gump now largest lobbying firm. Washington.
    41. News: Alison. Gendar. NY Daily News. September 14, 2009. Straight-shooter judge could break up Junior Gotti's perfect game. New York.
    42. News: Dana . Rubinstein. July 24, 2008 . New York Observer. It's Complicated: Insurance Firm Spills Space Gobbled by Former UBS President, Cleary Gottlieb. https://web.archive.org/web/20080804061605/http://www.observer.com/2008/real-estate/cleary-gottlieb-and-former-swiss-banking-bigwig-expand-manhattan-holdings-arch-insu . dead . August 4, 2008 .
    43. News: Geoffrey . Gray . December 15, 2003. City Limits. Charity Busters.
    44. News: Auchterlonie . Tom . King & Spalding alum returns to the firm’s private funds practice . 3 April 2024 . Private Funds CFO . . February 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230323153116/https://www.privatefundscfo.com/king-spalding-alum-returns-to-firms-private-funds-practice/ . 23 March 2023.
    45. Web site: Rod J. Rosenstein . kslaw.com . King & Spalding LLP . 3 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240116042115/https://www.kslaw.com/people/rod-rosenstein . 16 January 2024.
    46. News: Hobbs . Meredith . Daily Report Dozen: King & Spalding . 3 April 2024 . Daily Report . . April 7, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240403104235/https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/almID/1202552351184/ . 3 April 2024.
    47. News: Jon. Gertner. January 15, 2006. What Is a Living Wage?. New York Times .
    48. News: Elizabeth . Stull . Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 23, 2007. Gay Couple Sues Landlord for Discrimination.
    49. News: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal . Business - Minding your MANNERS . June 9, 2002.
    50. News: Anthony . Lin. New York Law Journal. May 16, 2006. Can the 'Jewish Law Firm' Success Story Be Duplicated?.
    51. News: Pete. Donohue. NY Daily News. December 11, 2005. MTA Pays Big Shots To Fight A Strike . New York.
    52. News: He May Have Played a Lawyer on TV, but Nanny Produced the Brief. ANN W. . ANN W.. LA Times. September 24, 2000.
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    55. Web site: August 19, 2009. Debra Cassens . Weiss. Wachtell Nabs Top Spot Again In Prestige Rankings. ABA Journal.
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    59. Beaton Research & Consulting (2012). An obituary for the term "Big 6" law firms in Australia . Retrieved 14 November 2012.
    60. Web site: Elite 'red circle' firms Zhong Lun and Jun He plot merger as consolidation grips China legal market The Lawyer Legal News and Jobs Advancing the business of law. www.thelawyer.com. 25 March 2014. 2016-04-09.
    61. Web site: The silver circle . Chambers Student Guide.
    62. News: Ashurst, Herbies ride out tough year; BLP, Macfarlanes, SJ Berwin succumb. 25 October 2010. The Lawyer. 14 July 2008.
    63. News: Silver Circle. 25 October 2010. The Lawyer. 3 September 2007.
    64. News: 'Silver circle' firms upset the legal order. 25 October 2010. The Times. 28 August 2005. London. Martin. Fletcher.

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