Founding, 18th and 19th centuries in
New York City In 1792, attorney John Wells, a
Princeton graduate who was one of approximately 80 lawyers in New York City at the time, founded the law firm that ultimately became known as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The firm became a partnership called Wells & Strong in 1818 when George Washington Strong joined Wells' practice. George Washington Strong's son,
George Templeton Strong, a lawyer and noted
diarist, joined the firm in 1844. The firm became known as Strong, Bidwell & Strong and then later became Bidwell & Strong in 1855 after George Washington Strong's death. he became partner in 1899.
20th century Taft served as special assistant to the
U.S. Attorney General from 1905 to 1907. Catherine Noyes Lee became Cadwalader's first female partner in 1942. and opened its first office in
China, located in
Beijing, in 2005. In the mid-1990s, a group of partners formed what some at Cadwalader referred to as Project Rightsize, an effort from 1994 to 1995 to remove less productive partners. The group shuttered Cadwalader's office in
Palm Beach, Florida, and reduced a branch in
Los Angeles, California. In all, 17 partners, nearly 20 percent, left the firm. including immigrant families. A portion of the firm's post-9/11 work occurred when attorneys learned there was no central resource for families seeking benefits; as a result, Cadwalader lawyers put together the "Handbook of Public and Private Assistance Resources for the Victims and Families of the World Trade Center Attacks", which was released in November 2001. Also during the fiscal crisis, Cadwalader attorneys served as advisers for the
U.S. Treasury as
Chrysler and
General Motors restructured. Cadwalader expanded in China with a Hong Kong office in 2010. In 2011, the firm opened offices in Houston and Brussels. In 2013, James C. Woolery left JP Morgan Chase for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The next year, Woolery was selected to take over as the firm's new chairman starting in 2015. In January 2015, when the chairman-elect was slated to take the chairman's post, the firm announced Woolery had left Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft to launch a hedge fund. which was followed by mass resignations of lawyers. On December 19, 2025, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft announced a merger with
Hogan Lovells to form Hogan Lovells Cadwalader. The merger was approved by partner votes at both firms on April 13, 2026. The combined firm is expected to begin operations in July 2026, with over 3,100 lawyers. ==Areas of practice==