Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm headquartered in Chicago. It has more than 975 attorneys spread across ten offices in the United States and five offices in Europe, Asia, and South America.[1] Founded in 1853, it is one of the largest and oldest law firms in Chicago.[2][3][4]
The firm is known for its litigation and transactional practices across a variety of fields.[5][6][7][8]
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 1892.[9]
In 2000, the firm merged with the New York office of Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan.[10] This added about 80 attorneys in corporate law, capital markets, project finance, and venture capital, bringing its total of New York lawyers to 250.[10]
In 2016 Winston & Strawn became the first Chicago law firm to match the record starting salary of $180,000 for first-year associates, beginning a "salary war" among large Chicago law firms after years of no change.[13][14]
In 2016, the firm announced a gender-neutral parental leave policy, allowing both male and female associates to take up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave within the first year of a child's life.[15]
In February 2017, the firm opened an office in Dallas with twenty-three partners from eight different law firms in Texas.,[16][17][18] In July of that year it added twelve partners to its employee benefits and executive compensation team, all from McDermott Will & Emery LLP.[19]
In January, 2020, the firm closed its office in Dubai, which the firm had opened four years earlier.[20]
In August 2020, the firm announced the formation of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Team, designed to assist companies navigate their ESG Profiles.[21]
In 2017, the firm's reported revenue was $985 million in 2017.[23][24] Its reported 2019 revenue was $1.01 billion.[1] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, revenue decreased about three percent, to $981.2 million, while partner profits increased by more than four percent due to reduced expenses.[25]
Notable representations
Winston & Strawn has handled 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:
2017: Achieved a favorable settlement for client Beef Products, Inc., BPI Technology, Inc., and Freezing Machines, Inc. (BPI) in a lawsuit against ABC News that has been described as "one of the most high-stakes defamation court battles in U.S. history."[26][27]
2016: On behalf of Warner Chilcott (owned by Teva Pharmaceuticals), secured a judgment invalidating the patent for NuvaRing—the first combined contraceptive vaginal ring marketed in the U.S. The judgment struck down Merck & Co's patent infringement claims.[28][29]
2016: Represented Verizon as Employment & Employee Benefits Counsel in Acquisition of Yahoo![30][31]
2016: Led by Dan Webb, released report regarding review of the Federal Civil Rights Litigation Division of the City of Chicago Department of Law[32][33]
In an antitrust lawsuit led by Jeffrey Kessler,[34] representing a group of current and former college athletes seeking to strike down unlawful compensation restraints imposed by the NCAA on Division I men's basketball and football programs
Represented Luxottica Group S.p.A. in acquisitions, including its $1.6 billion hostile takeover of U.S. Shoe Corporation, owner of LensCrafters, in 1995 and its 2007 $2 billion acquisition of Oakley[35][36]
Jeffrey Kessler: Winston & Strawn co-executive chairman and antitrust, sports law, and trial lawyer. Represented Tom Brady in Brady v. NFL, which led to the end of the 2011 NFL lockout.[46][47]
