Sullivan & Cromwell
Elite Wall Street law firm advising on the biggest M&A, bank, and AI infrastructure deals.
On the record
Checkpoint: 2026 Am Law 100 FY2025 financials report, expected to confirm record-year revenue
The call
The firm rides the AI deal boom as counsel rather than competing with AI, with regulation keeping non-lawyers out of its seat at the table.
Sullivan & Cromwell is one of the ten most powerful law firms in the world, handling complex deals and regulatory work for major corporations and governments. It is extremely hard to replace because laws require a real lawyer (not software) to sign off on deals, courts only accept licensed attorneys, and the firm's 147 years of relationships with blue-chip companies and governments create lock-in that new competitors cannot easily break. The one thing to watch is whether AI tools that automate junior lawyer work shrink the profits that attract and reward young lawyers climbing toward partnership, and whether deal cycles turn downward from their 2026 highs, which could pressure growth even if the firm's protected position holds.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI cannot be counsel of record or carry fiduciary duty, so it feeds the firm as a deal driver (Digital Infrastructure practice booked $1T) rather than replacing it. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: None apparent. No big tech or big consulting rival can get admitted to the bar or sit as attorney of record, so no giant can simply out-build this business. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. Bar admission and attorney-of-record rules plus 147 years of sovereign and blue-chip relationships block any non-lawyer substitute.
What would change this call
H1 2026 M&A rankings show S&C fell to 3rd globally behind Kirkland & Ellis. Would indicate elite deal mandates shifting toward rival firms.
A second AI-hallucination incident in S&C filings draws court sanctions or bar discipline. Would show the liability shield around AI use is cracking.
2026 Am Law 100 report shows associate headcount or revenue-per-lawyer growth stalling. Would signal AI-driven diligence automation eroding the leverage pyramid.
A second AI-hallucination incident in S&C filings draws court sanctions or bar discipline. Would show the liability shield around AI use is cracking.
2026 Am Law 100 report shows associate headcount or revenue-per-lawyer growth stalling. Would signal AI-driven diligence automation eroding the leverage pyramid.
Key numbers
- FY2024 revenue about $2.05B, 25th on Am Law 200
- Digital Infrastructure practice advised on ~$1T in deals
- H1 2026: 3rd globally in M&A value, $395bn/102 deals
Named risks
- April 2026 AI-hallucination filing could draw further court sanctions or bar discipline.
- Record H1 2026 M&A boom is cyclical and a reversal in dealmaking would hit transaction-concentrated revenue.
- Intense BigLaw lateral-partner talent war could erode practice-group strength or rankings.
- AI-driven diligence automation could compress associate leverage and partnership-track economics.
- Continued FTX-estate litigation exposure could resurface additional claims against the firm.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Kirkland & Ellis | losing to | Led global M&A value H1 2026 with $474.5bn/350 deals vs S&C $395bn/102 deals |
| Skadden | losing to | Ranked 2nd globally by M&A value H1 2026 with $402.8bn across 105 deals |
| Wachtell Lipton | losing to | Topped Q1 2026 M&A value rankings and posted $4.47M RPL, $9.04M avg partner comp in 2025 |
| Cravath Swaine & Moore | losing to | Ranked #1 on Vault prestige survey for 11th straight year as of April 2026 |
| Cravath, Skadden, Davis Polk | contesting | S&C ranks 5th on Vault New York prestige list as of June 2025, behind these three plus Wachtell |
Questions people ask
- Is Sullivan & Cromwell profitable in 2026?
- Yes. S&C reported 2025 as another record year, involved in nearly $505 billion of announced M&A, and its FY2024 revenue per lawyer hit $2.33 million, up 5.14% year over year, ranking third among Am Law 100 firms as of April 2025.
- Could AI replace Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers?
- Unlikely for core advisory work. Bar admission and attorney-of-record status are legally required for bet-the-company deals and court filings, blocking AI substitution. However, an April 2026 filing containing AI-hallucinated citations and a misquoted U.S. Bankruptcy Code section shows deployment risk even as adoption grows.
- Who is Sullivan & Cromwell's biggest competitor?
- Kirkland & Ellis led global M&A legal-advisor rankings by value in H1 2026 with $474.5 billion across 350 deals, versus S&C's $395 billion across 102 deals for third place; Wachtell Lipton and Skadden also rank ahead or near S&C in various tables.
- Is Sullivan & Cromwell growing or shrinking its headcount?
- Growing. The firm welcomed its largest associate class ever, over 170 new associates, in fall 2025, and third-party data from Revelio Labs puts total global headcount at about 1,728 as of December 2025, up 6.6% year over year.
- Did Sullivan & Cromwell have an AI failure?
- Yes. In April 2026, an emergency bankruptcy-court motion filed by S&C contained AI-hallucinated citations and a misquoted U.S. Bankruptcy Code provision, prompting bankruptcy co-head Andrew Dietderich to send a formal apology letter to Chief Judge Martin Glenn.
- How exposed is Sullivan & Cromwell to AI and data-center deals?
- Heavily and profitably exposed. Its Digital Infrastructure Practice advised on roughly $1 trillion in AI and data-center-related deals as of April 2026 per Bloomberg Law, and the firm advised OpenAI on its partnership with Microsoft, which it calls the most significant deal in AI.
Timeline
- 2026-07-21Firm welcomes national security partner Charles Capito, states over 1,000 lawyers firmwide
- 2026-07-07Capital solutions team advises on TPI Composites Chapter 11 and AMC Networks bond exchanges
- 2026-07-03Ranked 3rd globally in M&A value H1 2026 with $395bn across 102 deals
- 2026-06-16FTX trust drops $1.15 billion lawsuit against Genesis Digital
- 2026-04-22S&C apologizes to bankruptcy court for AI-hallucinated citations in a filing
- 2026-04-10Bloomberg Law credits S&C Digital Infrastructure Practice with $1 trillion in AI deals
- 2026-02-242025 Review calls it a record year, $505bn in announced M&A, largest associate class ever
- 2025-04-15FY2024 revenue about $2.05 billion, ranked 25th on Am Law 200
- 2024-10-09S&C dropped from FTX investors fraud lawsuit in Miami federal court
- 2024-05-09Sullivan & Cromwell formally announces Artificial Intelligence Practice Group
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Sullivan & Cromwell LLP · LSD.Law
- The 2025 Am Law 100 Ranking Is Here! (2025-04-15)
- Sullivan & Cromwell Welcomes Charles Capito as Partner (2026-07-21)
- Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, USA 2026
- Sullivan & Cromwell's 2025 Review (2026-02-24)
- Kirkland tops global M&A rankings... (2026-07-03)
- Bloomberg Law: 'Sullivan & Cromwell's Tech Strategy Seals $1 Trillion in Deals' (2026-04-10)
- Sullivan & Cromwell Dropped From FTX Investors' Fraud Lawsuit (2024-10-09)
- Sullivan & Cromwell Number of Employees 2026 (2026-06-29)
- Sullivan & Cromwell, Law Firm Profile
- Sullivan & Cromwell Announces Artificial Intelligence Practice Group (2024-05-09)
- Artificial Intelligence (2026-07-14)