Lawyer of the Day: A Prostitute-Loving Cravath Partner?
[Ed. note: We mentioned this briefly in Morning Docket. But any story involving the words “Cravath partner” and “hookers” deserves its own post.]
The late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, aka the “D.C. Madam,” has a New York counterpart. From ABC News (via our sibling site, DealBreaker):
Wall street lawyers, investment bankers, CEOs and media executives often used corporate credit cards to pay for $2,000 an hour prostitutes, according to the madam who ran one of New York’s biggest and most expensive escort services until it was busted last year.But prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office chose not to pursue any of the corporate titans, says Kristin Davis, who pleaded guilty last year to charges of running a prostitution business that used more than a hundred women.
Presumably no relation to actress Kristin Davis, who played squeaky-clean Charlotte York on Sex and the City. The actress is a brunette; the madam is a blonde (of course).
Among the names ABC News was able to confirm on [Davis’s client] list:* a partner at the Wall Street law firm of Cravath Swaine Moore, “looking for a party girl to come fully equipped,” [who] spent a total of $20,000.
Finally — a plausible explanation for those disappointing Cravath bonuses. The money went to a different set of hourly billers.
We appreciate the CSM partner’s demand that his high-class escort arrive “fully equipped.” Cravath lawyers believe in the importance of preparation. Whether dealing with depositions or dealmaking, their motto is: “Be prepared.”
Just like the Boy Scouts. If Boy Scouts blew twenty grand on whores.
Given the prestige (and profitability) of Cravath, some might find this news shocking. But those in the know realize that the white-shoe law firm has a long and august history…. of sexual deviance and prostitute patronizing.
Some historical context, after the jump.
A blast from the past, from a piece by James Stewart in the New Yorker (via the WSJ Law Blog):
“For the unspeakable facts were these: [Cravath partner] David Schwartz was murdered. He was killed in a sleazy Bronx motel. He was stabbed by a black eighteen-year-old male. He appears to have been leading a secret double life of clandestine and often dangerous sexual encounters. So far as can be determined, no one at Cravath and no one in his family had known”.At the time of his death, Schwartz was married with three children, all in their twenties. He owned a Park Avenue duplex, a home in Westport, Conn., and earned $2.5 million per year. “Still,” Stewart wrote, “wealth and status couldn’t disguise Schwartz’s personal problems, which were mounting.”
That was from 1992. For a more recent example of a Cravath lawyer with issues, look to James Colliton. He’s the former Cravath tax attorney who “paid a woman so he could have sex with her two underage daughters,” according to the AP.
Compared to Jim Colliton, the Cravath partner who was a Kristin Davis customer was a saint. He sought sex from women, not girls. And, assuming the $20,000 wasn’t spread over a huge number of encounters, he didn’t pay a half-Skadden rate.
Eliot Spitzer In Good Company [DealBreaker]
CEOs, Bankers Used Corporate Credit Cards for Sex, Says New York Madam [ABC News]
Law Blog Flashback: The 1992 Death of Cravath Partner David Schwartz [WSJ Law Blog]
(87) Comments
Comments
Bang me sideways. Billing rates are less.
Foist
2'S ATTEMPT AT POSTING FIRST = EPIC FAIL
2'S CAJUN ACCENT = EPIC SUCCEED
Ellie, I must say, you are quickly approaching funny. Yes, you set the bar very low, but you really are getting there. Kudos to you, and the other space aliens who came to Earth on your ship.
Alas, and then I see it was Lat who wrote it. Sigh.
- 4
Thank you LAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what does "fully equipped" even mean?
fully equipped = me likey, me so horney, me sex you long time
Are Cravath summers provided with firm-sponsored prostitutes or do we have to procure our own?
- Cravath 2L, sexual deviant and prostitute connoisseur
8 nailed it.
Once again, I would love to climb that madam's Grand Tetons and plant my flag atop those majestic peaks!!
my mother's second husband's brother in law (i know i know) was an ex-cravath man, he was also had the creepy grey complexion of death and was quite clearly a closeted pervert who likely burned small asian boys with cigarettes . . i think it comes with the territory. . . .
fully equipped = transsexual.
fully equipped = "with coke"
fully equipped means with coke. shoulda gone to cravath, those boys can party.
people who comment about epic anything are wow...dorks.
I thought fully equipped meant with a penis
I thought fully equipped meant with a water bottle, small tent, two cans of baked beans, gore-tex sleeping bag, goggles, snorkle and a spatula.
Fully equipped = rubber fist
$20K???
No wonder Cravath's managing partner wants to ditch the bill-by-the-hour model.
If she's FULLY EQUIPPED she brings her OWN COWBELL.
why buy the cow when you can get the milk for $20k?
Best. Law. Firm. Ever.
I bet those CSM attorneys know how to do their good turn daily like good Boy Scouts too.
$2,000 per hour??!? Ridic.
"This is the time to get rid of the billable hour," said Evan R. Chesler, presiding partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York.
Need to use "flat fees for handling transactions and success fees for positive outcomes"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/business/30hours.htm
it means she comes with a prophylactic - too shy to say the C-word.
What kind of GIRL comes "fully equipped?"
I'm glad I work at the top 5 shop whose attorneys don't serially embarrass the firm.
14 nailed it on what "fully equipped" means.
The key to interpretation here is the fact that he requested a "party girl." The term "party" has a very particular meaning among loser NY wannabe bigshots who stick things up their nose.
Will this partner resign? Or will he remain at the firm, since the DA's office doesn't seem to have plans to prosecute?
does anyone have the text of the original new yorker article? It's not available in any of the online databases
What on god's green earth could be causing this ungodly amount of pressure on my sphincter place?
14 + 29 = CSM alumni have a pretty good idea who said partner is
Coke on a Friday, bitches!
Cravath, Swaine, and Whores
i think 26 is right its a a prophylactic
35 Nailed it.
If the partner gives her legal advise while he has her does that offset her fees?
That would bring down her fees to the 1000-1200 range and that is much more reasonable.
Pour it on the models.
-Pop Bottles
Would you believe that the Cravath Partner was brazen enough to bill a client for the matter as time spent "reviewing legal strategy"
The James Colliton story is pretty amazing. Here is the New York Times write-up:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/nyregion/03plea.html
Many years ago a partner at Cravath had an affair with an associate's wife.
What did Cravath do? .... Fire the associate.
Who was the Partner?
"The actress is a brunette; the madam is a blonde (of course)."
What the fuck does this mean? Seriously?
44 - It is a tongue-in-cheek reference to stereotypes about blondes.
the upside, 44, is that blondes really do have more fun. but they get taken less seriously and bring a similar attitude towards their career choices.
How much does Cravath fucking suck? Worst place on earth to work.
What an absolute piece if sh_t!!
Sex with minors!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/1003/nyregion03plea.html
48, the same link was already posted by 41.
23, your emphasis is wrong.
should be best. law firm. ever.
whores are a good time.
21, wowy wow wow wow, that was funny.
Would anyone care to opine, from personal experience perhaps, as to the manner and form in which such charges appear on a corporate credit card statement?
51 -- she undoubtedly had some sort of bland sounding corporation or LLC name that actually owned the business so that the credit card charge doesn't stand out from any others -- it probably sounds like a real estate company (525 E. 72d Corp).
Off topic but there has been a lot of buzz at White & Case of another round of layoffs. Can anyone confirm?
This does not surprise me. I got a distinctly sexist vibe when I interviewed with Cravath. I spent an entire day interviewing there and didn't encounter one female -- except for the floozy who guided me around from office to office, shaking her ass in her miniskirt as I followed behind.
I saw the video. This broad is NOT a natural blonde. If you were to pull down her panties, you'd be able to confirm that real quick.
54 - In Cravath's defense, some of their top lawyers and best partners are women (like Julie North and Faiza Saeed).
i second/third the "party girl" + "fully equipped" = "with coke."
try reading casual encounters sometime. you can learn a lot.
54--Sorry about your tiny pink Cravath rejection, bro. You must not have been looking too hard if you didn't see any other women there.
21 is the new ATL commenter of the year. no need to hold a contest.
I NEED MORE COWBELL!
Maybe that's where the bedbugs come from.
Cravath has bed bugs? Since when?
Since early 2008 (at least):
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/03/cravaths_achilles_heel_bedbugs.php
Will my Cravath administrative assistant come "fully equipped"?
Finally -- a plausible explanation for those disappointing Cravath bonuses. The money went to a different set of hourly billers.
Comedy gold.
*golf clap*
43,
If you were asking 'which partner' in response to my post at 42, he's long not just retired, but also dead.
65 - no you douche bag, he was asking who the partner that hired the prostitutes was.
My favorite line was: "Just like the Boy Scouts. If Boy Scouts blew twenty grand on whores."
Nice work Lat.
65, if he's dead, then you can reveal his name. It is hornbook law that you can't libel the dead.
He is not the only BigLaw partner doing this.
18: that was funny.
58: 54 is obviously a chick, not a "bro." What guy would call a girl in a mini-skirt a "floozy"?
Hehe I love the comments
Basically, this is the only way a socially awkward risk averse white-pasted Biglaw lacky can get some. The looks and game are not there so you have to resort to spending money. Next time you are jealous of all those Ivy leaguers who have spent their lives reading reading law review articles 24 hours a day with little exposure to the outside world., ask yourself if you want to fit into this profile.
Hehe I love the comments
Basically, this is the only way a socially awkward risk averse white-pasted Biglaw lacky can get some. The looks and game are not there so you have to resort to spending money. Next time you are jealous of all those Ivy leaguers who have spent their lives reading reading law review articles 24 hours a day with little exposure to the outside world., ask yourself if you want to fit into this profile.
To 71. Little is more entertaining than when some young JD gets it wrong and then also tries to drive the wrong point home. The ho's were for the clients!
70: What person under the age of 80 even uses the word "floozy"?
68,
This is 42, 65.
His name's not important - what's important is that it shows what a bunch of sh*ts they were - 1st blowing up a guy's personal life and then blowing up his career.
with all of the trouble with male partners at corporate law firms, the few women who exist in partnerships should get better bonuses...just for not being creepy rapists. is that too much to ask?
69: "He is not the only BigLaw partner doing this. "
Way to state the obvious.
What a badass!
Cravath is a cesspool of perversity. Trust me.
fully equipped means plenty of cocaine
Am I the only one who thinks that both prostitution and cocaine should be legal? The man is an adult, and perfectly capable of handling his blow and his women.
What the hell is wrong with this country?!?!?
Agreed 82, this country is getting soft.
First of all the 20/20 expose completely sucked, didnt say anything, and didnt name names.
Second of all, anyone who doesnt respect this man more for throwing 20Gs at a whore is a homosequal.
I'm a pretty sick guy too. How come I didn't get an offer from Cravath?
Two Words: Denny Crane.
cravath what a shady place
don't conflate sexual deviance and prostitute patronizing