Winston & Strawn
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| Winston & Strawn LLP | |
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| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| No. of offices | 11 total, 4 international |
| No. of attorneys | 900 (2009) |
| No. of employees | approximately 2,000 total |
| Key people | Dan K. Webb (Chairman) Thomas P. Fitzgerald (Managing Partner) James R. Thompson (Senior Chairman) |
| Revenue | $1 billion + |
| Date founded | 1853 |
| Founder | Frederick H. Winston |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | |
| www.winston.com | |
Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm with approximately 900 attorneys among 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.
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[edit] Locations
Beijing, China (2009); Charlotte, North Carolina (2008); Chicago, Illinois (1853); Geneva, Switzerland (1993); Hong Kong, China (2009); Houston, Texas (2011); London, England (2003); Los Angeles, California (1999); Moscow, Russia (2005); Newark, New Jersey (2000); New York, New York (1989); Paris, France (1995); San Francisco, California (2003); Washington, D.C. (1970).
[edit] History
Winston & Strawn LLP was founded in Chicago in 1853 by Frederick H. Winston, who was joined by the firm's other name partner, Silas H. Strawn, in 1894.
In the past two decades, a series of mergers, office openings, and lateral hires has resulted in a global law firm spanning 14 offices across the United States, Europe and Asia. Throughout its history, Winston & Strawn has handled many significant, high-profile matters for its clients, including its organizing the Union Stockyard and Transit Company in 1894; challenging the War Powers Act in 1944 on behalf of department store Montgomery Ward; and representing the Atlanta Braves baseball franchise in 1966 litigation involving its relocation from Milwaukee to Atlanta. More recently:
- Defending General Electric in its much-publicized industrial diamond price-fixing case [1]
- Representing Luxottica Group S.p.A. in myriad acquisitions, including its $1.6 billion hostile takeover of U.S. Shoe Corporation, owner of LensCrafters, in 1995 and its recent $2 billion acquisition of Oakley [2]
- Assisting Barr Laboratories to invalidate a key patent on Prozac in a case Fortune magazine calls "the mother of all patent challenges" [3]
- Achieving a decisive victory for Microsoft Corporation in the remedy phase of its battle against federal and state antitrust claims [4]
- Representing the New York Stock Exchange in the Grasso compensation investigation and subsequent litigation [5]
- Assisting Lear Corporation in connection with the recent bid for the company by Carl Icahn. [6]
[edit] Pro Bono and Community Service
Winston & Strawn was one of the first large law firms in the country to adopt a written pro bono policy in 1991, to become a signatory to the Pro Bono Institute Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge [7], to establish a well-funded charitable foundation, and to hire a full-time Director of Public Interest Law.
The firm's Pro Bono Policy was revised in 2004 to incorporate Winston's 150th anniversary Pro Bono Pledge to devote at least 35 hours per lawyer to pro bono work each year. Winston has provided representation in matters involving community economic development, criminal defense, First Amendment/free speech, contested guardianship, landlord/tenant, not-for-profit corporate organization, political asylum, post-conviction relief in death penalty cases, and public assistance. [8]
Among other things, the firm has devoted hundreds of hours helping the Innocence Project, a nationally-recognized advocacy organization that seeks to exonerate persons convicted of criminal offenses based on DNA evidence. The firm's collaboration with the Project has been immensely successful, involving hundreds of attorneys, paralegals, IT staff, summer associates, and others at the firm, so that more than 200 persons who were wrongfully convicted have now been exonerated.
In 2008, the firm led the Chicago Bar Foundation's ground-breaking "Campaign for Justice," which was a city-wide effort to raise more than $1 million to support the city's 250 public interest lawyers and the 40 legal aid organizations they work for.
Winston & Strawn provides financial support to civic and charitable organizations through the Winston & Strawn Foundation.
[edit] Salaries, Billing Rates and E-mail Gaffe
In February 2010, legal news blog AbovetheLaw.com reported tips that Winston & Strawn had frozen associate salaries for the second consecutive year, but was increasing the rate at which it would bill clients for associates' time.[1] Several days after the tip about salary freezes, a Winston partner accidentally sent an e-mail to all attorneys (intending it to go to partners only) which indicated that the firm's income had increased. Specifically, the e-mail stated that the firm saw an increase on bill collections from 52% to 58%, resulting in an additional $7 million in revenue.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Winston & Strawn LLP official Web site
- Winston & Strawn on Twitter
