White-shoe firm

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In the United States, "white-shoe firm" is a term used to describe prestigious professional services firms—particularly law firms, investment banks, and accounting firms—historically associated with the upper-class elite and Ivy League graduates. The term most often describes leading Wall Street institutions, particularly those based in New York City and Boston, that have existed for over a century. The term comes from white buckskin derby shoes (bucks), once the style among the men of the upper class. While the term has historically implied a cultural homogeneity associated with White Anglo-Saxon Protestant men, the term is now used more broadly to denote firms that are long-established, prestigious, and specializing in complex, high-stakes business matters. Former Wall Street attorney John Oller, author of White Shoe, credits Paul Drennan Cravath with creating the distinct model adopted by virtually all white-shoe law firms, the Cravath System, just after the beginning of the 20th century...

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