Coudert Brothers LLP was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

–based

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

with that practiced from 1853 until its dissolution in 2006.

History

The firm was established in 1853 in New York by three sons of

Charles Coudert Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

Sr.:

Frederic René Coudert Sr. Frederic René Coudert Sr. (March 1, 1832 in New York City – December 20, 1903 in Washington, D. C.) was an American lawyer with Coudert Brothers. __NOTOC__ Life His father Charles Coudert was French, and left France in 1824. Frederic graduate ...

, Charles Coudert Jr., and Louis Leonce Coudert, and specialized in international law. The firm represented private investors seeking to acquire rights to build the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

; French automotive and tire manufacturers opening plants in the U.S.; the governments of

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France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in the buildup to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; and

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

and a group of foreign car manufacturers in the successful appeal of the Selden Patent Case, ending the attempted monopolization of the automotive industry. The firm prospered under three generations of family control, expanding from its start in New York City to 28 offices worldwide, including

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Coudert partners dealt with financiers, presidents, and ambassadors in settling cases of corporate ownership worldwide, acting as confidential facilitators of Allied arms buying in World War I, and as interventionist supporters in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1986, Coudert Brothers hired Gordon Spivack, a former

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

professor who oversaw the multimillion-dollar antitrust practice at the law firm of

Lord Day & Lord Lord Day & Lord was a large American blue-chip law firm in New York City. It was established in 1845 by Daniel Lord, his son Daniel DeForest Lord, and his son-in-law Henry Day. History The firm had retained the same name until 1988 when it merg ...

. Spivack took 17 lawyers to Coudert Brothers, plus clients like the

Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

Dissolution

Though ''

American Lawyer ''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.Baker & McKenzie Baker McKenzie is an international law firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1949 under the name Baker & McKenzie, it has 68 offices in 46 countries and employs 4,558 attorneys. History Co-founding partner Russell Baker, who had graduate ...

. The breakup of Coudert Brothers was long in coming. In 2004, the firm had profits of only $410,000 per partner—among the lowest in big law firms. Coudert Brothers took a significant hit when

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Orrick is a global law firm focusing on serving the technology & innovation, energy & infrastructure, finance, and life sciences & healthcare sectors. Founded in San Francisco, California, Orrick today has offices in over 25 worldwide markets His ...

recruited 11 partners from its London and

offices, effectively ending its presence there. Orrick also acquired Coudert's valuable offices in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Most of the New York office joined

Baker & McKenzie Baker McKenzie is an international law firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1949 under the name Baker & McKenzie, it has 68 offices in 46 countries and employs 4,558 attorneys. History Co-founding partner Russell Baker, who had graduate ...

, greatly expanding its New York operations. In Paris, the office split to both Orrick and the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based firm

Dechert Dechert LLP (; ) is a multinational American law firm of more than 900 lawyers with practices in corporate and securities, complex litigation, finance and real estate, financial services, asset management, and private equity. In 2021, the firm r ...

. In Brussels, Antwerp, Singapore, and Tokyo,

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a law firm with offices in over 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It was founded in 2005 through the merger between three law firms: San Diego–based ''Gray Cary Ware & Freiden ...

and

Mayer Brown Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New ...

welcomed new attorneys from Coudert. Additionally, some of the lawyers in

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and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

became the foundation for new offices for

Chadbourne & Parke Chadbourne & Parke LLP, founded in 1902 by Thomas L. Chadbourne, was a 400 lawyer firm, which operated from 12 offices in ten countries. Chadbourne was known for its practices in project finance and energy, international insurance and reinsur ...

in those areas. The Bangkok office switched to

Hunton & Williams Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, formerly known as Hunton & Williams LLP and commonly known as Hunton, is an American law firm. The firm adopted its current name on April 2, 2018, when it merged with Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP. Andrews Kurth Kenyon p ...

. Specialized departments started their own law firms, such as the Middle East Practice Group based in Frankfurt which set up MIDEAST LAW , Lawyers , Avocats , Rechtsanwälte. One reason for the decline of Coudert Brothers was the rise of other competitive multinational law firms in the 1990s and 2000s, such as

Clifford Chance Clifford Chance LLP is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England, and a member of the " Magic Circle", a group of leading London-based multinational law firms. In 2022-2023 Clifford Chance was the third largest law fir ...

White & Case White & Case LLP is a global white-shoe law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the firm has 46 offices in 31 countries worldwide. History The firm was founded on May 1, 1901, when two Wall Street lawyers, Justin DuPratt White, 31, a ...

, and

. Many of Coudert's offices were relatively costly, unproductive, and conservative in billing, which made their profits (and therefore the income of their partner attorneys) weaker than other firms. The firm also had redundant offices, such as three offices in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

and a generalist approach that competed poorly with more specialized practices of other firms. On September 22, 2006, Coudert Brothers filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. This led to a flurry of litigation, including allegations of malpractice and that overseas lawyers sequestered firm money from creditors. There was also debate over payments made to partners during the final months of the firm's operations possibly constituting

fraudulent transfer A fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer is the transfer of property to another party to prevent, hinder, or delay the collection of a debt owed by or incumbent on the party making the transfer, sometimes by rendering the transferring part ...

s. As of 2016, litigation concerning the acquisition by Orrick of Coudert's Chinese offices was still ongoing, leading one judge to dub Coudert "the longest-lived dead law firm in the

Western World The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

Notable attorneys

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential nominations, until in 1988, he dropped out amid revelations of ex ...

* Stephen Schulhofer (born 1942), Professor of Law at the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

and

NYU Law School The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest surviving ...

Notes

External links

History of the firm and picture of the brothers
* {{Authority control Defunct law firms of the United States Law firms based in New York City Law firms established in 1853 Law firms disestablished in 2005 Defunct companies based in New York (state) 1853 establishments in New York (state) 2006 disestablishments in New York (state)

History

Dissolution

Notable attorneys

See also

Notes

External links