Aging Wall Street Law Firms Seek Lifelines: New York Brief

Aging Wall Street Law Firms Seek Lifelines

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft is the latest storied New York law firm forced to find a dance partner or face extinction, Meghan Tribe and Justin Henry report.

Manhattan’s oldest law firm is merging with Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader said Thursday, on the heels of 150-year-old Shearman & Sterling combining with Allen & Overy.

Cadwalader’s deep financial sector ties once made it among the country’s most profitable firms, but its narrow focus became a liability as the legal industry shifted.

Like Shearman, Cadwalader staked out a merger with a larger, out-of-state rival to avoid the ...