Cravath DC Play Shows Wall Street Titan in Policy Wonk Role (1)

Cravath Swaine & Moore’s move to Washington is set to shake up the local legal market as elite firms look to stockpile lawyers with regulatory chops.

The storied Wall Street firm and M&A powerhouse was one of two top firms without a presence in the nation’s capital, along with perennial dealmaker Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. That changed Monday as Cravath announced it’s launching in Washington, the third office in the firm’s 200-year history and its first new outpost in five decades.

“Cravath has always handled ‘bet the company’ matters for our clients with a nexus to Washington,” Faiza Saeed, ...