McDermott Will & Schulte

With its history going back to the 1930s, McDermott Will & Schulte is home to almost 1,800 attorneys across 22 offices in the U.S. and Europe. Among its many practices, the firm is especially known for its healthcare, tax, and financial services expertise.

Windy City Meets Big Apple

McDermott Will & Schulte is the product of the 2025 merger of McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel. Legacy firm McDermott opened as a tax firm in 1934 in Chicago, growing over the years to a powerhouse healthcare, tax, and general law firm with offices worldwide. Founded in 1969 by a group of New York BigLaw associates looking for a change, legacy firm SRZ established itself in the market by practicing in more-niche areas like hedge fund law and trusts & estates.

Flexing Its Practice Area Muscles

While the firm is still known for its strength in tax, McDermott’s reach has expanded to newer areas such as life sciences, renewable energy, and privacy law, complementing its more traditional practices such as M&A, antitrust, healthcare, IP, litigation, real estate, and insurance. 

McDermott is also a leader in healthcare law, holding the No. 1 spot in Vault’s Healthcare rankings. The firm uses multidisciplinary, cross-border teams to handle its clients’ sophisticated issues. Hospitals, healthcare private equity funds, digital health companies, home health agencies, hospices, medical device manufacturers, and others call on McDermott for advice. 

The firm also has a standout intellectual property department, with experience in copyright, domain names, International Trade Commission matters, patents and patent litigation, trade secrets, trademarks, and unfair competition. McDermott is a regular before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including in post-grant review proceedings. The firm’s IP attorneys serve the energy, life sciences, media, telecommunications, and other industries.

The firm’s financial services practice specializes in investment management, corporate and transactional matters, and litigation, providing a one-stop shop for all the legal needs of the many investment banks, hedge and private equity funds, banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, venture capitalists, and pension funds the firm counts among its clients.

• Bolstering climate action: Carbon Protect insurance reduces risk in carbon markets. With the goal of insuring certain carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market, Oka approached our team to develop a first-to-market carbon insurance product. McDermott helped them with Oka’s goal to make carbon credits less risky and more appealing to investors, ultimately driving climate action.
• Defending diversity: Pro bono efforts upheld a historic Black church’s right to operate in Texas.
• Knocking down class action allegations and appeal: Forward-thinking legal strategy resulted in complete junk-fax class action win for national network of medical practices.
• Crafting a brand vision: Fishers Island Lemonade sale to E. & J. Gallo.

• No. 1 Law Firm for Associate Satisfaction, 2024—Vault
• Top Workplace, 2024—USA Today
• Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+, 2024—Human Rights Campaign
• Top 10 Most Innovative Law Firms, 2023—Financial Times
• Top Firm for Career Development, 2023—Chambers Associate