What Did the attacks of Sept. 11 cost the Am Law 100 law firms? In one sense, the sum is incalculable. The immediate paralyzing effect on business and the longer-lasting blow to investor confidence hurt law firms in ways both real and imagined, no matter how far they were from the actual scenes of the attacks. But traditional Wall Street firms, or at least the eight on The American Lawyer list with offices within a mile of the World Trade Center – Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Cahill Gordon & Reindel; Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; Pillsbury Winthrop; Sidley Austin Brown & Wood; Stroock & Stroock & Lavan; and Sullivan & Cromwell – all sustained direct costs. (The American Lawyer is an affiliate of the New York Law Journal.)
Sidley which had space in the towers, lost its offices. Many of the others suffered losses of more than $1 million. All are now negotiating with their insurers to recoup their costs.
