Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

S&C holds Band 1 rankings in Chambers USA for Corporate/M&A, Banking & Finance, White-Collar Crime, Litigation, Antitrust, Restructuring, and Capital Markets. The firm is a dominant advisor on major bank mergers, financial institution regulation, and cross-border M&A. Its white-collar and government investigations practice regularly represents Fortune 500 companies and senior executives in high-profile enforcement actions. S&C's breadth of Band 1 rankings across seven practice areas reflects a depth of capability that few firms match.

S&C uses a rotation-based training program where associates gain exposure to multiple practice areas before specializing. The firm does not impose a formal billable hour requirement, which associates appreciate for reducing the pressure to log hours. Chambers Associate rates S&C as a Strong Performer for Associate Satisfaction, and associates report acquiring leadership skills and client management responsibilities earlier than at many peer firms. The culture varies by office. New York tends toward "work hard, play hard," while the DC office has a more family-oriented rhythm. The summer class is approximately 163 associates.

S&C's alumni include two former U.S. Secretaries of State (John Foster Dulles and his brother Allen Dulles, who led the CIA), Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, and numerous federal judges and corporate leaders. The firm's long history of advising governments and financial institutions during periods of economic crisis, from the Great Depression to the 2008 financial crisis, gives it a distinctive institutional memory.