Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Winston & Strawn LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Winston & Strawn
- Designation: National
- Head Count: 842
- Gross Revenues: $755,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $895,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,490,000
- Year Over Year Change: 1
Based in Chicago since the mid nineteenth century, Winston & Strawn boasts one of the nation’s premier litigation practices. The chair of the firm, Dan Webb, is one of the nation’s leading corporate defense lawyers. He made his reputation as a corruption–busting U.S. Attorney in Chicago and as a down–to–earth defender of General Electric, Microsoft and Philip Morris. Winston’s litigation practice as a whole picked up a finalist nod in The American Lawyer’s 2004 Litigation Department of the Year contest, as well as honorable mentions in 2006 and 2010. And it was was a finalist in the 2010 IP Litigation Department of the Year competition, thanks largely to its successful advocacy in patent cases for generic drug makers (the firm’s IP group was also one of the first to expand into new media work).
Yet it is not just the trial lawyers getting all the glory. Winston is well–respected for its antitrust and trade regulation, employment and labor, and trusts and estates work. It’s also known for steering through some hard times in its history, like the recent global financial crisis. While revenues took a bit of hit, by 2011 they had topped the firm’s prerecession peak. Significantly, too, Winston was seeing renewed success recruiting lateral partners. In 2011 it wooed 40 of them, including 19 from the now–defunct Howrey.
Like many of its peers, Winston has been looking to Asia for growth, leveraging offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai (the firm’s other international outposts are in Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, and Paris). Stateside, the firm has a major presence in Washington, D.C., where its practice includes strong antitrust and regulatory groups (other U.S. offices are in Charlotte, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, and San Francisco).
Winston has scored above–average grades for pro bono work (coming in seventy–seventh of 200 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Pro Bono Report, with lawyers averaging about 48 hours of annual nonpaying work). But junior lawyers have had gripes: Winston finished near the bottom on both our 2010 (135th of 137 firms) and 2011 (121st of 126 firms) midlevel associates surveys. Consistency, it turns out, is not always a virtue.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 34 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 34 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 25 | 6 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 77 | 26 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 81 | 8 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 121 | 14 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 45 | no change | Summer programs |
In the News
In No. 3 verdict, Monsanto wins $1B over seed patent
Amanda Bronstad : The National Law Journal : March 4, 2013
After three weeks of trial in a closely watched patent case involving genetically modified soybeans, a federal jury in St. Louis, Mo., took one hour to return a $1 billion verdict against E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.
Say-On-Pay Following in Footsteps of M&A Suits
Sue Reisinger : Corporate Counsel : March 4, 2013
Securities lawsuits against corporations over say-on-pay advisory votes are so similar to shareholder suits filed over mergers and acquisitions that a new M&A litigation study includes a look at the say-on-pay suits.
MOVERS
: The National Law Journal : March 4, 2013
Allison Liff joins Weil, Gotshal & Manges's banking and finance practice group as partner in the New York office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.
All-Star Laterals
Victor Li and Drew Combs : The American Lawyer : March 1, 2013
The Am Law 200's most high-profile lateral moves of 2012.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : March 1, 2013
Cooley loses two real estate partners to New York real estate boutique Duval & Stachenfeld; a group of five Gordon & Rees commercial litigators leave for SNR Denton; and McGuireWoods gains a former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom partner. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Funk Godfather George Clinton Not Just Knee Deep in Copyright Fight
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : February 27, 2013
The latest twist in the P-Funk mastermind's tangled legal saga finds him in danger of losing control of his hard-won rights to the master recordings of four of his classic albums—to one of the law firms that helped him reclaim those rights in the first place.
Reed Smith Enters Houston Market With 17 Attorneys
Gina Passarella : The Legal Intelligencer : February 27, 2013
After leasing space in Houston last month and working the lateral market, Reed Smith has announced it will officially open its first Texas office with 17 attorneys from seven different firms in the region.
Reed Smith Enters Houston With 17 Attorneys
Gina Passarella : The Legal Intelligencer : February 26, 2013
After leasing space in Houston last month and working the lateral market, Reed Smith has announced it will officially open its first Texas office with 17 attorneys recruited from seven different area firms.
Newsmakers
: Texas Lawyer : February 25, 2013
In charge
Lisa Holton : The National Law Journal : February 25, 2013
Profile of Kelly McNamara Corley, general counsel for Discover Financial Services.
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Arent Fox
- Arthur Cox
- Baker & McKenzie
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Heller Ehrman
- Howrey
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jenner & Block
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Perkins Coie
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Slaughter and May
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
