General Commercial Disputes

We regularly represent clients in bringing and defending actions involving alleged breaches of contract and the ever-evolving category of business torts, such as fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with prospective business relations, employee “raiding” claims and unfair competition claims. Frequently, such claims arise in the context of wider litigation, involving related claims under various antitrust, securities or intellectual property laws, as well as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) statutes.

Because Cravath’s litigators have experience across practice areas, the same team can handle general commercial disputes alongside more specialized claims, enabling us to identify and develop innovative arguments and to use smaller, more cost‑effective teams. Together with members of the corporate department, Cravath’s litigators also advise corporate clients on how to structure business arrangements and practices to avoid litigation.

Cravath’s litigation department has repeatedly been recognized as “General Commercial Firm of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation, as well as “Law Firm of the Year” for Commercial Litigation by Best Lawyers Best Law Firms, which honors “outstanding performance, experience, and excellence within the legal profession.” We are also consistently ranked in the top tiers of Benchmark Litigation, Chambers USA and The Legal 500 US. Our team has been named New York Law Journal’s overall “Litigation Department of the Year” numerous times and previously received Legalweek’s Leaders in Tech Law Award for “Litigation and E‑Discovery.” We have earned recognition from the Financial Times as both “Most Innovative Law Firm for Legal Expertise” and “Most Innovative for Dispute Resolution.” 

Our team has earned repeated praise from clients and the market, including:

• “Having engaged in bet-the-company litigation, the management team wanted to engage the best lawyers we could in order to secure the most favorable outcome possible. We needn’t have looked any further than Cravath.” Client, Benchmark Litigation
• “Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP maintains its reputation as a go‑to firm for some of the most complex, high‑profile commercial litigation in the country.” The Legal 500 US
• Cravath “possesses an esteemed civil litigation practice, highly sought after for sophisticated business disputes and securities actions. The firm fields a strong bench of market‑leading attorneys, known for their extensive courtroom experience on behalf of household-name clients” and it “wins plaudits for its significant commercial litigation practice.” Chambers USA
• Cravath “stands out for its ability to take on the full gamut of commercial litigation.” The Legal 500 US
• “No firm demonstrates better teamwork in complex litigation or can muster the same cohesive intellectual firepower.” Client, The Legal 500 US
• “The team has all the technical expertise and intellectual horsepower to distil the toughest issues, while also being able to explain the issues in terms that non-legal business people understand and internalize.” Testimonial, The Legal 500 US
• “They excel in strategy and tactics, anticipating how cases will unfold and positioning us based on facts. They are great legal minds, preparing for all eventualities, including trial, mediation, and settlement. They approach problems holistically. They are great at matter strategy. They are who we go to for our hardest and trickiest litigation.” Client, Chambers USA