They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 - Jacob Croke of Sullivan & Cromwell

Jacob Croke

Age: 39

Law Firm: Sullivan & Cromwell

Practice Area: Litigation

Title: Partner

Location: New York

Law School: Columbia Law School

Please describe two of your most substantial, recent wins in practice.

I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished for FTX’s customers. That situation started in complete chaos, with billions of dollars missing and barely any reliable information.

The first months were a blur, working around the clock to piece together what had happened and trace missing assets. But through the efforts of an incredible team, we developed and executed on a comprehensive investigation and asset recovery plan that has included dozens of litigations and hundreds of other successful resolutions. It’s still hard to believe, but although everyone initially expected pennies on the dollar, we’ve recovered more than $14 billion and expect to pay creditors significantly more than 100% of their petition date claims.

The Tiffany-LVMH litigation was a great example of the importance of being prepared. During early Covid, it became unclear whether LVMH would try to back out of the Tiffany acquisition. We had to simultaneously work toward closing while also preparing for the worst. When LVMH informed Tiffany that it was backing out, we filed a 114-page complaint within 24 hours and hit the ground running, with trial scheduled in just four months. Just weeks later, LVMH agreed to complete the acquisition at a very slight price reduction.

What is the most important lesson you learned as a first-year attorney and how does it inform your practice today?

The most important thing I learned as a first-year attorney was that you have to be interested in what you do. If you’re working on a type of matter or in a practice area that you find challenging and fun, it makes it so much easier to put in the time to learn how everything works and to get the experience you need to develop.

A good rule of thumb as a new associate is that you should try to do work in industries or practices you’d enjoy reading about in your free time. Most clients know and love the industries that they work in and enjoy working with people who feel the same way.

How do you define success in your practice?

I would define success in my practice as being able to develop lasting client relationships while working on a wide range of matters. S&C has a strong tradition of generalist litigators, and we were all trained to be able to work on all sorts of matters, rather than to pick specializations at an early stage of our careers.

I’ve been fortunate to work on many different types of cases over the years and have always loved the challenge of trying something new, but there have also been times when I’d find myself working on a new type of matter and sitting on the other side of the table from someone with much more experience in that particular area. It’s been very rewarding to have clients who trust in us even in those situations, and who have faith that we will deliver a great result no matter the circumstances.

What are you most proud of as a lawyer?

I’m most proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish for FTX customers. It’s impossible to convey what it was like when everything collapsed—it was complete chaos. The records were a mess, and we had barely any information about which assets remained and where in the world they were. Everything was at risk of disappearing or being seized by someone else, and we had little or no access to the people who knew the most about what had happened.

The first few months were an around-the-clock sprint to piece things together from random spreadsheets, trace billions of dollars that had been sent off to shell companies or accounts registered in the names of employees and figure out what had happened with FTX’s 500+ venture investments. And as we were putting this together, we also had to figure out a plan to get everything back.

It was completely exhausting and at time seemed like it would never end, but you’d be sitting in a cab on the way home in the middle of the night, thinking about all the innocent customers who were worried they would only get back pennies, and then you’d come back the next morning and work on new ways to track down more assets. I’m so proud that we’ve been able to help people recover well over 100% of their claims.

Who is your greatest mentor in the law and what have they taught you?

There are too many to mention them all, but my greatest legal mentor is my (now-retired) partner Rich Klapper.

Rich was the senior partner on the first case I worked on after joining S&C. Rich was all the things I expected someone in his position would be—brilliant, a great writer, loved by clients—but he was also an incredibly good person and colleague. He was unfailingly polite to everyone (including opposing counsel), completely unflappable, and would freely and loudly give others credit and praise while privately giving constructive feedback.

Rich taught me that our job is to help our clients and to help develop the next generation of lawyers, and that everything else in our practice is secondary to those goals. Rich never sought the spotlight, and in fact spent most of his time looking for ways to drag younger lawyers on stage with him and to help them develop experience and build client relationships. This mindset is what I think of as one of the defining characteristics of S&C, and Rich exemplified that as much as anyone I’ve ever known.

Tell us your two favorite songs on your summer music playlist.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey (or “Streetlights” as my daughter calls it). All of our kids inherited the gene that causes them to sing this at the top of their lungs, so it ends up in constant rotation at our house. And “Africa” by Toto—a classic summer song when you’re at the beach or just hanging out outside.

Jacob Croke of Sullivan & Cromwell and one of his five kids relaxing at home.

Photo Illustration: Jonathan Hurtarte/Bloomberg Law; Photo courtesy of Jacob Croke