Erecting the Pillars of International Lending

After World War II, the legal framework for international banking was in need of repair. One of the most significant tools for international lending was the certificate of deposit introduced in 1961. Shearman & Sterling partner Henry Harfield developed the legal basis for negotiable certificates of deposit and created a legal mechanism for commercial banks to pay interest on deposits. Harfield spent a lifetime working on innovative lending and financing products. His books, Bank Credits and Acceptances and Letters of Credit remain authoritative texts. His pioneering contributions helped shape the legal framework of international banking.

Five Weeks and a world away

As a third year Project Development & Finance associate, Isabelle Sajous had the opportunity to spend five weeks in Tanzania helping to prosecute those accused of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Isabelle’s contribution to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was mirrored in her admiration for the prosecutors at the tribunal “I worked alongside very passionate and committed attorneys who were truly an inspiration. My time in Arusha was a life changing experience.” Since Shearman & Sterling began participating in the ICTR in 2001, 30 attorneys have spent time assisting the Office of the Prosecutor prepare and prosecute cases. They return with both a profoundly greater understanding of the frontiers of international law and an experience that, for many, is one of the most rewarding of their lives.

Merrill Lynch

In 1959, the landscape of international investment banking shifted dramatically with the incorporation of brokerage giant Merrill Lynch. Shearman & Sterling devised a way for Merrill to overcome significant regulatory barriers to become the first publicly traded brokerage house, thereby dramatically increasing access to capital and limiting the liability of the former general partners, now shareholders. Twenty years later, Shearman & Sterling advised on Merrill’s acquisition of international banking firm White Weld, laying the groundwork for the diversification and international expansion that would characterize the investment banking powerhouses of the future.

Rebuilding Europe

In 1946, post-war Europe struggled to rebuild. Shearman & Sterling dispatched partner Gilbert Kerlin to investigate the whereabouts of 11 companies that had issued dollar bonds through Citibank. Mr. Kerlin returned to the US with major European clients, eventually helping BASF, Siemens and others reenter the U.S. markets. The firm helped settle Germany’s external debt, and engineered workouts involving more than 40 German corporations and 14 municipalities.  Numerous German corporations also retained the firm to oppose their break-up by occupation authorities.

Opening Markets to the World

Thanks to a former Shearman partner, private placements, as opposed to public offerings, are now a routine event on Wall Street this wasn’t always the case. The inconspicuously titled Rule 144A allows companies to offer stocks and bonds to US institutional investors without extensive financial disclosure. Linda Quinn, a late partner and former Director of the Corporation Finance Department at the SEC, was the prime architect of Rule 144A.  Linda’s contributions were a tremendous step in the development and globalization of capital markets.

Swapping Debt for Nature

The world banking system faced a virtual collapse in 1982 as country after country in Latin America defaulted on their international debt. Shearman & Sterling, in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund, pioneered a ‘debt-for-nature swap’ that tied debt relief to preservation of some of the world's most important natural areas. The technique, based on the debt-for-equity swap, was used in Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, and was later exported to other areas of the world, including Madagascar, the Philippines, Poland and Zambia.

An International Gavel

The Phillip C. Jessup Competition gives top international law students the opportunity to test their intellect and presentation skills on matters that are of interest to the legal as well as to the global community. The competition promotes a cross-cultural environment that encourages the exchange of perspectives and ideas, and stimulates the thinking that is critical to the practice of international law. Shearman & Sterling’s sponsorship of the competition is natural given the firm's global presence and experience in international law. The firm has a long history of involvement in international and cross-border transactions in all of its fourteen practice groups.

If the Shoe Fits

In one of the first cases of its kind in 1903, Shearman & Sterling took on a case which involved convincing a court that the name of a business was as much an asset as the business itself. Representing the widow of shoe manufacturer John Slater, Shearman & Sterling won the precedent-setting trademark case that allowed their client to sell the name of her husband’s company. Today, the Intellectual Property Group at Shearman & Sterling handles cases related to outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, licensing, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and internet-related matters.

Associate Sabbaticals

As an associate in the Property Group, Jeffrey Salinger decided to take a hands-on approach to his background in environmental law and spent a month in Africa working for the African Conservation Trust. The senior associate spent his sabbatical counting and monitoring hippos for a census that looks at the effects of ecological threats to the western shores of Lake Malawi. Amy Gitlitz, an associate in the Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits Group, spent her sabbatical working for a firm client on the Broadway play Imaginary Friends. Amy had the opportunity to work as a production assistant for the play that included Tony Award winners Cherry Jones and Swoosie Kurtz.

First Foreign Foray in France

Shearman & Sterling established its first overseas office in Paris in 1963. The next decade would bring substantial international work to the firm. In 1964, Shearman & Sterling represented underwriters of the first private company offering of a Eurodollar issue. Within a few years, the firm developed significant business in the Middle East, spurred on by involvement with Sonatrach, the state-owned oil and gas company in Algeria. Today, Shearman & Sterling has 20 offices throughout the world with attorneys practicing US, English, French, German and Italian law. The firm most recently opened an office in Shanghai, China.

Microloans Pay Off Big

In 2003, Shearman & Sterling made a donation to the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) to develop ten village bank microlending programs in Afghanistan. The first loans were made to women like Fatima Mohammad Mussah (pictured here), who spent years in an Iranian refugee camp only to return to her homeland with little means to invest in a small, home-based business. Shearman & Sterling attorneys around the globe continue to assist FINCA on an array of corporate issues. FINCA provides microloans to the working poor in 22 countries around the world.