A Law Unto Itself is the first social history of a major American law firm. Researched and written by impartial authors, this book peers down the corridors of Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the nation's few remaining secret repositories of power. It describes how the firm's partners have had a crucial impact on American business, government, and international relations for more than a century.
A Law Unto Itself gives a wholly new perspective on American history. It details the firm's direct and potent influence on world affairs. These include the building of the Panama
Canal, the Great Depression, assistance to a controversial German government prior to World War II, the post-World War II recovery period (especially in Japan), and the reorganization of America's business in the 1980s by arranging mergers and acquisitions on an unprecedented scale. Here is an eye-opening excursion into the American past (Would John Foster Dulles have been confirmed as secretary of state after publication of this book?) History, business and legal buffs will marvel at the differences—and the similarities— in the legal methods of the 1980s as compared to the 1880s, when the firm's founder, William Nelson Cromwell, "taught the robber barons how to rob " Today, the firm has made the headlines because of its overaggressive behavior in the New York courts.
This is a shocking historical narrative of power and money.
Nancy Lisagor has a doctorate in the sociology of law from the University of Pennsylvania. She writes reviews and articles for a number of publications, including The Economist and Knight-Ridder newspapers Frank Lipsius, whose twenty-year journalistic career has spanned two continents, writes for The Economist and The Financial Times of London His first book was a biography of Alexander the Great. Lisagor and Lipsius, who are married to each other, live in New York City
