He became a corporate lawyer in New York, and helped found the law firm of Shearman & Sterling in 1871, a firm that represented Jay Gould, Henry Ford, the Rockefeller family, and Standard Oil.
С 1871 года партнер в нью-йоркской юридической фирме Shearman & Sterling, клиентами которой были семья Рокфеллеров и Standard Oil, Генри Форд, Джей Гулд.