Sloan said he had many reasons to hire Parker, but one that might go unappreciated, given his legal role, is his keen business sense.
"He's very commercial," Sloan told Reuters. "I've found him to be very helpful in terms of talking about strategic business or product-type decisions that we might be making."
Those who have dealt with Parker through his career say he is the type of colleague who remembers names and attends funerals more than most. But he is not above a good joke. One friend recalled that after Parker helped him resolve a personal dispute with a babysitting service that overcharged by $944.32, he received a bill from Cravath for the same amount.
"It is a real gift to have that good a sense of humor and yet not have hundreds of embarrassing anecdotes about you," said Robert Baron, a Cravath partner.
This article was provided by Reuters.