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Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

About Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Founded in 1908, Davis Wright Tremaine has worked with small clients as well as Fortune 500 companies. The firm maintains a focus on litigation and entertainment, environmental, intellectual property, and employment law. Today, the firm has more than 560 attorneys in 11 domestic offices.

Winning the West Coast

More than eight decades after it kick-started its practice in Seattle, Davis Wright Tremaine merged with another reputable Seattle firm and began expanding throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. In Anchorage, Alaska, Davis Wright Tremaine made headlines by serving as lead counsel in a 30,000-plaintiff lawsuit filed by seafood and fishing industry interests against Exxon Valdez for the massive 1989 oil spill off the coast of Alaska. Gradually, the firm established a string of offices dotting the West Coast, snagging prominent West Coast Clients such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and The Seattle Times, and in 1991, it became the first Seattle-based firm to open up shop in San Francisco. 

The firm expanded to the East Coast in 1981 after it acquired a Washington, DC, telecommunications boutique, and it made its move into the Big Apple in 1998. The firm also recently expanded to Chicago after merging with the financial services boutique McGonigle.

That’s Entertainment

Davis Wright Tremaine has continued to expand its core practice areas in addition to copyright, financial services, and middle-market M&A legal services. The firm’s lawyers advise on brand protection and advertising; corporate and business transactions; employment law; environmental law; litigation; real estate; and technology, privacy, and security matters. 

Davis Wright Tremaine maintains a powerful Entertainment division, boasting clients such as Spotify, Meta, Paramount, Apple, Netflix, and Comcast and is particularly well-known for its First Amendment litigation. The firm’s attorneys have represented author J. D. Salinger in a copyright suit, litigated against controversial filmmaker Michael Moore over First Amendment rights, and defended comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and Showtime in a defamation lawsuit brought by former Georgia Chief Justice Roy Moore. Recently, the firm made headlines in its defense of BuzzFeed publishing the Steele Dossier in the Gubarev v.   Buzzfeed, Inc. case. Davis Wright Tremaine is among the top law firms in Vault’s Media, Entertainment, & Sports rankings, and its Media & Entertainment practice has been named Media & Entertainment Group of the Year by Law360.

That’s Innovation

With an eye toward innovation, Davis Wright Tremaine employs “legal solution architects” who work together with firm lawyers to address the business initiatives and challenges of its clients and the firm itself. The firm brings together creative problem-solving and project management strategies, such as Lean Six Sigma, within its culture of collaboration. For example, the firm has developed an automated legal document system and a heatmap of protected IP.

COVID-19 Update

COVID-19 has not affected our firm’s Summer Associate recruitment or program in any negative way.  In fact, we have expanded our firmwide summer class size and even participated in a few new fellowship programs. However, all interviews, orientations and trainings have been taking place virtually to ensure everyone’s health and safety. DWT has a strict vaccination policy and we will continue to monitor national and local health guidelines to offer a safe environment for everyone.

News & Awards

NOTABLE CASES
  • The firm successfully defended Showtime in a $95 million libel complaint brought by former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore over his appearance on the Sacha Baron Cohen show, “Who is America?”
  • The firm represented Flynn Restaurant Group in its purchase of 937 Pizza Hut and 194 Wendy's locations throughout the country from NPC International—the largest franchisee-to-franchisee acquisition in U.S. history.
  • The firm successfully enjoined a Trump Administration executive order that would have banned use of TikTok in the U.S.
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
  • Law Firm Diversity Champion Award, 2022—Citi
  • Named one of the country’s Top 5 “Ceiling Smashers” for high percentage of women equity partners, 2023—Law360 Glass Ceiling Report
  • Law Firm of the Year in Advertising Law and Media Law, 2023—Best Lawyers and U.S. News
  • Pro Bono Publico Award, 2023—American Bar Association
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

920 Fifth Avenue
Suite 3300
Seattle, WA 98104-1610
Phone: (206) 622-3150

Firm Stats

Managing Partner: Jaime Drozd
Total No. Attorneys (2024):
500 - 750
No. of Partners Named 2024:
13
Billable-Hour Requirement:
1,850

Base Salary

Base Salary (2024)
Portland, OR
1st year: $190,000
Summer Associate: $3,653 weekly Seattle, WA; Bellevue, WA; Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA
1st year: $205,000
Summer Associate: $3,942 weekly Anchorage, AK
1st year: $135,000
Summer Associate: $2,596 weekly

Employment Contact

Sandra Morriss
Law Student Talent Acquisition Manager
(206) 757-8893
sandramorriss@dwt.com
general recruiting email: attyjobs@dwt.com

No. of U.S. Offices: 11

No. of International Offices: 0

Major Office Locations

Seattle, WA (HQ)
Anchorage, AK
Bellevue, WA
Chicago, IL
Culver City – Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Portland, OR
Richmond, VA
San Francisco, CA
Washington, DC

Major Departments

Business & Tax
Communications
Employment Services
Energy
Environmental
Financial Services
Health Care
Litigation
Technology & Privacy & Security
Real Estate & Land Use
Media, Entertainment, Patent, Technology, & Advertising
First Amendment
Food & Beverage
*See firm website for complete list of practice areas and industries.