New York’s Cravath Swaine & Moore has never been known for aggressive overseas expansion. Among its closest New York rivals, only Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz has been more conservative about venturing away from its Big Apple roots. So when Cravath announces that it is moving one of its most senior New York litigators, John Beerbower, to London, the shift is worth attention.
The first point of interest is Cravath’s steady build-up of its London office, which now numbers 15 lawyers. Although the firm shows little appetite to broaden its offering beyond US law, London’s rivalry with New York for the status of world financial capital has led Cravath to reassess its sole overseas outpost.
