citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message white & case headquarters 1155 sixth avenue new york city 1 no . of offices 41 total no . of attorneys 1 878 2015 2 no . of employees approx . 4 800 total major practice areas general practice key people hugh verrier chairman 3 revenue 1.5 billion 2015 2 profit per equity partner 2 million 2015 2 date founded 1901 founder justin dupratt white george b. case company type limited liability partnership slogan worldwide . for our clients . website whitecase.com white & case llp is an international law firm based in new york city . the firm was founded in new york in 1901 and has grown into one of the world s leading law firms . the american lawyer ranked white & case as the ninth largest law firm in the united states as of 2015 and the 14th highest grossing law firm in the world as of 2013 . 2 the firm has expanded beyond new york opening offices in leading cities in the us and around the world and it has practice groups in emerging markets including latin america central & eastern europe africa the middle east and asia . white & case has 40 offices in 27 countries around the world . 4 white & case clients include many of the world s most respected and well established companies technology and other start ups governmental organizations and state owned entities . contents 1 history 1.1 formation 1.2 between the wars 1.3 world war ii and postwar growth 1.4 hurlock years and global expansion 1.5 21st century 1.6 2008 economic crisis 2 social responsibility 3 former partners 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit formation edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message on may 1 1901 two wall street lawyers justin dupratt white 31 and george b. case 28 contributed us 250 each to launch white & case . white graduated from cornell law school in 1890 and case graduated from columbia law school in 1897 . the firm benefited from the founders relationship with j.p. morgan & co. financier henry harry davison . davison hired white & case to organize bankers trust company . davison retained white & case to represent a series of banking ventures and provide legal services to many of the companies financed by j.p. morgan including u.s. steel . during world war i the british and french governments hired j.p. morgan & co. to purchase war materials in the united states on their behalf . white & case handled the legal work writing contracts with nearly 1 000 us suppliers . this resulted in a high volume of legal work for the firm . in recognition of the firm s efforts the french government made dupratt white a chevalier of the legion of honor . between the wars edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message george case at the behest of harry davison and president woodrow wilson served on the red cross s war council . the firm opened an office in paris on the place vend me in 1926 to better serve the growing organization . in 1900 white became a commissioner of the palisades interstate park commission formed to preserve the wooded cliffs along the hudson river . supporters of the project included pierpont morgan railroad magnate edward harriman and john d. rockefeller jr. but according to the new york times it was white who served as the guiding figure in the commission s work handling its legal affairs free of charge for more than 30 years . colonel joseph hartfield joined the firm in 1905 and later headed the firm from the early 1950s until 1964 . he was one of the first jewish lawyers to reach the pinnacle of a major new york firm and was renowned for his annual celebratory trips to the kentucky derby . world war ii and postwar growth edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message with world war ii came new challenges for white & case . in 1940 paul pennoyer then head of the firm s paris office faced the daunting task of winding up the firm s business as german tanks approached the city s outskirts . when he was ordered back to new york pennoyer tucked in his pocket the bearer stock certificates of french cosmetics company lanvin allowing lanvin to operate outside europe throughout the war . in 1960 pennoyer reopened the paris office . white & case represented aramco which held the concession to develop and produce saudi arabia s massive oil reserves when the company was served with a federal grand jury subpoena in an investigation of alleged worldwide oil cartels . no action against the company resulted from those grand jury proceedings and an enduring relationship between saudi aramco and white & case had begun . in 1954 white & case represented the sellers in the us 51.5 million sale of the empire state building then one of the largest real estate transactions in new york city history . white & case represented continental illinois national bank and trust company as the largest creditor in the 1963 salad oil scandal dubbed by the wall street journal as one of the biggest swindles in history . continental illinois had us 20 million of outstanding loans and the case resulted in one of the largest financial settlements in history at the time in which american express paid its creditors us 57.9 million in cash and up to us 30 million of recoveries from insurance and other sources . hurlock years and global expansion edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message few individuals changed the firm more than james hurlock who shaped the firm s global presence and structure as its head from 1980 until 2000 . hurlock was a rhodes scholar who spent ten of his first 16 years with white & case in europe . two early negotiations helped establish the reputation of the firm s sovereign practice which represents a large number of nations particularly in the former communist and other emerging markets . during that time hurlock helped indonesia reschedule more than us 10 billion of debt mostly held by foreign banks when state oil company pertamina was unable to meet payments . the firm also helped turkey reschedule debt incurred after the turkish central bank accepted turkish lira deposits convertible into hard western currencies . white & case began opening offices in business and financial centers worldwide including brussels in 1967 ; london in 1971 ; washington dc in 1978 ; hong kong in 1978 ; singapore and stockholm in 1983 ; ankara and istanbul in 1985 ; los angeles in 1986 ; and miami and tokyo in 1987 . when the berlin wall fell in late 1989 the firm moved quickly to open offices in budapest warsaw moscow and prague and was selected by the governments of hungary poland russia and the czech republic to provide representation in their mass privatization programs . in 1991 the firm opened an office in mexico city . helsinki finland followed in 1992 riyadh saudi arabia and bangkok thailand in 1993 almaty kazakhstan in 1994 johannesburg south africa in 1995 s o paulo brazil in 1997 and bratislava in 1999 . in all these markets white & case remains one of only a small number of international law firms to have successfully established a presence . white & case was also one of the first law firms to spot the growing potential of the chinese market adding offices in shanghai 2000 and beijing 2004 to its hong kong led asian network . from the beginning foreign offices were regarded as an integral part of the firm . jean luc boussard who joined white & case in 1975 became the first european partner in 1982 . today the majority of the firm s partners are based outside the united states . mergers and lateral recruitment also became part of the firm s strategy . in 1998 white & case merged with brussels forrester norall & sutton focusing on european union law . the brussels office today is a recognized leader in this area of practice . 21st century edit partner duane wall assumed leadership of white & case in 2000 and presided over further expansion of the firm especially in europe where the firm opened in italy milan 2001 and merged with one of germany s largest firms feddersen . 5 there were initially five german offices absorbed into white & case frankfurt berlin dresden d sseldorf and hamburg although the network was extended in 2006 with the addition of space in the growing technology center of munich at the expense of the disbanding german firm haarmann hemmelrath . after the september 11 2001 attacks white & case was one of five firms that formed a steering group to coordinate the efforts of new york lawyers to provide free emergency legal services to victims . in 2005 for the first time white & case broke through the us 1 billion revenue barrier and also became home to more than 2 000 lawyers . citation needed since 2000 the london office of white & case has expanded considerably and now has a legal staff of more than 400 . white & case was one of the first us firms to establish a london office in 1971 and was one of the first foreign firms to qualify when the law society of england and wales changed its rules in 1993 to allow english and registered foreign lawyers to practice together in partnership . the london office offers both english and us qualified lawyers and practices in the areas of banking and finance capital markets m & a project finance and dispute resolution . on october 1 2007 white & case announced a new leadership team led by chairman hugh verrier . previously head of the firm s moscow office verrier was elected by the partnership in august 2007 . the firm s new executive committee which acts as the executive decision making body includes verrier and three appointed partners anthony kahn oliver brettle and asli basgoz . on september 20 2011 hugh verrier was re elected chairman of the firm for a second term . jacquelyn maclennan david koschik and oliver brettle were subsequently named to the firm s executive committee . 6 2008 economic crisis edit in 2008 the frozen credit markets economic shrinkage and global downturn that began in 2008 has had a significant impact on white & case as well as other law firms . on november 11 2008 the firm announced that it was laying off 70 lawyers and 100 staff members at a time when job prospects for lawyers were very weak . 7 with a second round of layoffs on march 10 2009 an additional 200 lawyers and 200 staff were laid off . 8 social responsibility edit in 2010 white & case created a global pro bono practice 9 which is