Sullivan & Cromwell: What Law Students Should Know

Sullivan & Cromwell is old money. Founded in 1879, the firm has advised on some of the most consequential financial transactions and legal matters in American history. Two of its former partners became Secretary of State. Its client list reads like a history of American capitalism. And unlike many firms that have grown into global megafirms, S&C has stayed deliberately small and selective.

The Basics

• Vault Rank: #6
• Headquarters: New York
• US Offices: New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Palo Alto
• Size: ~900 attorneys worldwide
• Starting Salary: $225,000

What They Are Known For

M&A is the crown jewel. Sullivan & Cromwell has been at the center of transformative deals for over a century. The firm regularly advises on the largest, most complex mergers and acquisitions in the world, the kind of deals that make the front page of the Wall Street Journal. They represent both acquirers and targets, strategic and financial buyers.

Financial institutions are core clients. S&C has deep, long-standing relationships with the largest banks and financial services companies in the world. When Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, or a major European bank needs outside counsel for a bet-the-company matter, S&C is on the short list.

Beyond M&A, the firm has strong practices in general corporate and securities, litigation (particularly financial services litigation and white collar), tax, and real estate. The tax practice punches well above its weight relative to the firm's size. Financial regulatory work, especially bank regulatory, is a specialty that few firms can match.

Culture and the Rotation System

Sullivan & Cromwell uses a rotation system. New associates do not join a permanent practice group right away. Instead, they rotate through multiple areas, typically spending time in M&A, capital markets, and other corporate practices, or rotating through different litigation matters, before settling in.

The rotation is less structured than Cravath's but more formalized than a free-market system. There is an assignment coordinator, and the firm actively manages where junior associates spend their time. The goal is to give you broad exposure before you specialize.

S&C's culture is traditional, intellectually rigorous, and demanding. This is a firm that expects excellence as a baseline. The attorneys are sharp, the work product standards are exacting, and the assumption is that you are smart enough to figure things out with minimal hand-holding.

There is a genuine meritocracy buried under the old-school exterior. S&C promotes from within, values long-term development, and has a partner track that is selective but transparent. The firm is smaller than most of its Vault peers, which means partners actually know your name.

Hours are high, this is a V6 firm doing the most complex deals in the market. But the leverage ratio (associate-to-partner) is lower than at many competitors, which means you get more direct partner contact and more substantive responsibility earlier.

Summer Program

S&C's summer class is small, usually 80-100 summers. The program reflects the firm's personality: substantive, well-run, and not trying too hard to be fun. You will do real work, rotate through practice areas, and get a genuine preview of what associate life looks like.

The offer rate is consistently high. The firm does not bring on summers it does not intend to hire.

Offices

The New York office is the center of the universe at S&C. The vast majority of the firm's deal work and litigation happens there. DC has a meaningful regulatory and litigation practice. LA and Palo Alto are smaller but serve the West Coast corporate market.

The international offices, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, are focused on cross-border work, primarily supporting New York-originated transactions. If you want to practice in New York with occasional international exposure, S&C delivers. If you want to build a career outside of New York, the platform is limited.

Compensation

Sullivan & Cromwell matches the Cravath scale. $225,000 base for first-years with a $21,000 bonus. Total first-year comp: approximately $246,000.

S&C has historically been a lockstep firm, meaning your compensation is determined by your class year rather than individual performance metrics. This aligns incentives toward collaboration rather than internal competition.

Who Should Apply

Sullivan & Cromwell is the right firm for students who want to work on the largest, most consequential transactions in the world within a firm that is small enough to know your name. It is the right firm for students who value intellectual rigor, substantive training, and the prestige of a name that carries weight with every major financial institution on the planet.

If you want geographic flexibility, a casual culture, or a large peer class to blend into, S&C is not the right fit. This is a firm that is small by design, demanding by nature, and elite by every measure that matters.