abstract:White shoe firm is a sometimes racially/culturally tinted phrase used to describe leading professional services firms in the United States, particularly firms that have been in existence for more than a century and represent Fortune 500 companies. It typically—but not always—refers to banking, law, and management consulting firms, especially those based in New York and Boston.
It's snazzy stuff for a venerable, white-shoe firm so taciturn that it omits the Goldman name on its headquarters tower a few blocks south of Wall Street.
Mazzio's included a law degree from Georgetown University, a partner position at white-shoe firm Brown Rudnick in Boston and board-memberships at the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and the National Rowing Foundation.