George Washington is reelected President, and Wall Street is in its infancy as a financial center. John Wells, an orphan from Otsego County, New York, starts a law practice in lower Manhattan.

Wells establishes one of the first law partnerships in the nation with George Washington Strong, a prominent member of New York society. Their practice focuses on commercial claims, litigation, maritime law, real estate and wills, and their clients include New York banks, insurance companies, businesses and members of prominent New York families.

New York's population swells to 123,000 inhabitants, making it the nation's largest city and North America's largest port.

After the deaths of Wells (1823) and Strong (1855), descendants of Strong and others continue the Firm. By 1878, Charles Strong heads the Firm, representing the leading business, social and cultural organizations of the day. Lawyers are generalists, working on a variety of issues. Partnerships are informal arrangements, and law firms are extensions of partners' personalities and reputations.

John L. Cadwalader, a former Assistant Secretary of State, joins Strong, catapulting Strong & Cadwalader into the ranks of elite firms representing major corporations.

Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Carnegie rule the day, controlling nationwide markets through trusts and holding companies. To curb the appetites of these "Robber Barons" and to insure free competition, government regulations are introduced. Cadwalader lawyers develop regulatory expertise to negotiate and defend the interests of business clients.

On the technological front, Cadwalader introduces the typewriter and telephone to its offices. Ever innovative, the Firm establishes associates positions, replacing the system of unpaid law clerkships. Propelled by changes in the business and legal culture, the modern corporate law firm is born.

George W. Wickersham, an antitrust expert, joins the Firm. In 1909, he interrupts his practice to serve as the U.S. Attorney General under President Taft.

Henry W. Taft joins the Firm. Renowned for his corporate antitrust defense work and railroad expertise, he is appointed Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1905.

War is declared in Europe. The Firm's name becomes Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft as attorneys continue to represent a cross-section of local and national businesses, including financial institutions, private investment bankers, large commercial banks, major industrial and transportation concerns, and life insurance companies.

The United States enters the war. Cadwalader's partners and associates serve in Washington and on the battlefields.

The Great Depression hits. Railroad and corporate reorganizations, and real estate transactions and foreclosures dominate the Firm's work. The Firm handles two of the most publicized cases of the era: the Gloria Vanderbilt custody case and the copyright infringement suit involving Gone with the Wind.

Lawyers and staff leave the Firm to serve in the war effort.

Catherine Noyes Lee, a graduate of New York University Law School, becomes a partner, the first woman partner of a major Wall Street firm. Half a dozen women lawyers join the Firm during the war.

Henry Taft dies on August 11, 1945, the day after the Second World War ends.

The American economy experiences unprecedented growth following the war. By the early 1960s, Cadwalader's practice includes complex tax, shipping, mergers and acquisitions, international finance and trademark matters, as well as litigation, real estate, general corporate, and trust and estates work. The Firm opens its Washington D.C. office in 1967.

Cadwalader's litigation practice expands, fueled by changes in health, environmental, securities, discrimination and product liability law. Cases become more complex, drawing together lawyers with corporate, securities, antitrust, bankruptcy and environmental expertise. Litigation in the financial arena increases dramatically, as insider trading and white-collar crimes are aggressively prosecuted. The Firm's high-profile cases include Tavoulareas v. The Washington Post, the Agent Orange class action suit, the Dalkon Shield class action suit and the Fund of Funds case.

Securitization, the creation of financial products, becomes the Firm's largest practice area by the 1980s. Cadwalader pioneers the creation of mortgage- and asset-backed securities, including pass-through certificates, guaranteed mortgage certificates and collateralized mortgage obligations. The Firm also establishes a leading commodities swaps and derivatives practice.

Cadwalader celebrates its bicentennial.

The Firm establishes an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, the nation's second largest financial center.

Cadwalader opens a London office to serve the global financial markets.

Sharing in the world's sorrow, Cadwalader personnel offer assistance to the victims of, and families and businesses affected by, the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The Firm's London office expands to new space, further illustrating Cadwalader's commitment to global growth.

Cadwalader's New York headquarters moves to the World Financial Center, a location selected because it allows the firm to remain downtown and also affords expansion possibilities. As a result, the firm is able to not only enjoy commanding views of the city but access to state-of-the-art technology, the ability to customize a work environment tailored to the needs of a 21st century law firm and easy accessibility to and for the firm's clients. The move is heralded as one of the most important, and largest, leases completed in lower Manhattan in 2004, for keeping jobs in the business community, and for helping to sustain small businesses who rely on customers and foot traffic created by firms like Cadwalader.



Opened in 2005, the Beijing office fulfills part of Cadwalader’s global business strategy to be well established in Asia as the region emerges as one of the world’s leading global markets. Our presence in China allows us to provide legal services to organizations and investors who seek to capitalize on emerging opportunities in capital markets, securitization, banking and regulatory matters, corporate finance and international trade matters.

Our Charlotte Office celebrates ten years of growth and innovation! While we may still be youngsters in Charlotte, our commitment to the Queen City is backed by over 200 years of outstanding client and community service.

Cadwalader's D.C. office moves to a new, state-of-the-art, “green” office at 700 Sixth Street, located between the White House and the U.S. Capitol in the burgeoning Penn Quarter neighborhood.

Cadwalader's London office relocates to Dashwood at 69 Old Broad Street, affording the firm the flexibility to grow and providing a location more centrally located in the heart of the business district. The firm opens an office in Hong Kong, Asia's center of international banking, investment and trade, establishing a formidable Asia Pacific presence from which to provide legal services to U.S. and U.K. financial institutions and multinational companies doing business and investing in Asia as well as Asian-based entities in their international business activities and investments.

In a strategic move reflecting market trends and client demand, Cadwalader launches an Energy and Commodities practice and opens an office in Houston. The Energy team provides sector-specific expertise required to meet the intense regulatory challenges and increased competition facing energy companies, banks, and commodity traders. This presence in Houston, known as the "Energy Capital of the World", allows us to better serve these clients, as well as other burgeoning industries in the nation's fourth largest city.