Date founded 1853 No. of offices 18 total, 9 international Number of attorneys 850 (2015) Founder Frederick Hampden Winston | No. of attorneys 850 (2015) Revenue 820 million USD (2015) No. of employees approximately 2,000 total | |
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Key people Dan K. Webb (Co-Chairman)Jeffrey L. Kessler (Co-Chairman)Thomas P. Fitzgerald (Managing Partner)James R. Thompson (Senior Chairman) Profiles | ||
Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm with more than 875 attorneys among 17 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1853, it is the oldest law firm in the city of Chicago.
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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 18 offices across the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 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:
In 2017 the firm opened an office in Dallas with 23 partners from eight different law firms in Texas.
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, 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.
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.