In 1836, New York attorneys Hiram Barney and William Mulligan founded a law office in downtown Manhattan. They took on significant matters from the inception of the firm, including the bankruptcies of the Metropolitan Street Railway and the New York City Railway. Barney was later appointed to the prestigious position of Collector of the Customs of the Port of New York by President Abraham Lincoln.[2]
Name partner Nicholas Kelley joined the firm at the turn of the 20th century. Kelley was instrumental in negotiations to finance the production of Chrysler automobiles. The firm also represented Westinghouse Electric in a major bankruptcy matter; Westinghouse would go on to merge with CBS some 90 years later. Name partner John Wilson Drye also brought important clients to the firm, including Union Carbide Corporation, one of the world’s oldest chemical companies.[2]
Kelley Drye partners have long had political and legislative influence beyond the world of private law firms. Its partners have advised or have been appointed to offices by a number of American Presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Abraham Lincoln, and Woodrow Wilson. Kelley Drye assisted in drafting the 1947 Taft Hartley Act, a foundational labor law regulating the activities and power of labor unions.[2]
Kelley Drye merged with Washington, D.C.–based firm Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC in 2006.[3] In April 2011, Kelley Drye merged with the Los Angeles firm White O'Connor Fink & Brenner LLP.[4] The firm expanded its presence to Texas through a merger with Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, P.C. in 2016.[5]
