McGuireWoods

McGuireWoods, home to over 1,000 attorneys in 19 offices worldwide, is a full-service firm that provides legal solutions to corporate, individual, and nonprofit clients across a range of industries including banking and financial services, energy, healthcare, and private equity.

McGuireWoods’ Mergers

The firm’s history dates back to 1834 in Charlottesville, VA, with the founding of Egbert R. Watson’s law practice. Since then, the firm has strategically expanded from coast to coast and overseas—largely via mergers. In the past, McGuireWoods joined North Carolina firm Helms Mulliss & Wicker, U.K. firm Grundberg Mocatta Rakison, Texas-based Nickens Keeton Lawless Farrell & Flack, and litigation boutique Integer Law Corp. 

Multiple Legal Facets

McGuireWoods regularly serves clients across banking and financial services, energy, healthcare, private equity, and other industries. In addition to its skillful lawyers who handle corporate transactions, high-stakes disputes, and complex regulatory and compliance matters, the professionals in its wholly owned affiliate, McGuireWoods Consulting, provide a unique combination of state and federal government relations prowess on the basis of their infrastructure, economic development, and advocacy expertise. 

On the labor and employment front, the firm has experience working on matters from affirmative action and immigration law to labor relations, litigation, and noncompetes. The firm tackles thousands of employment-related matters yearly. Its employment litigators leverage their experience in discrimination, disability, ERISA, negligent hiring and supervision, OSHA, retaliation, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, whistleblower claims, and other matters.

The firm may be best known for its healthcare experience. The firm’s 60 healthcare practice lawyers often partner with other experts in the firm, including those at McGuireWoods Consulting, to tackle complex issues facing clients. The firm has a diverse roster of clients, ranging from venture capital firms and lenders to ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, pharmacies, and medical trade associations.

Diversity and Inclusion Strides

The firm has two groups focusing on diversity and inclusion, the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and the Talent Development Advisory Council. The Diversity & Inclusion Committee supports affinity-related groups to strengthen community and belongingness. The committee also helps incorporate inclusiveness in the firm’s professional development, supports retention through lawyer networks, strengthens marketing and business development opportunities, and ensures the firm is well-represented at elite events and conferences. The Talent Development Advisory Council is a committee that includes representative members of the firm’s senior legal management team and key business professionals including the chief operating officer. It supports the firm’s culture supported by its core values with programming and initiatives that promote the well-being and success of all McGuireWoods associates.

• Won a closely watched trademark infringement trial for Penn State, proving to a federal jury that an online retailer and manufacturer infringed Penn State’s trademarks by selling unlicensed merchandise with names and vintage images associated with the university. The case has significant implications for colleges and universities that license their trademarks to third parties.
• Advised Dominion Energy in its agreement to sell a 50% noncontrolling interest in the historic Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project, the largest offshore wind farm in the United States and the first installed in federal waters, through the formation of a partnership with Stonepeak, a leading global infrastructure investor.
• Represented Ryan Collins in Collins v. Virginia. SCOTUS ruled in favor of Collins, stating that the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment does not permit a police officer to enter the curtilage of a home without a warrant.
• Represented human trafficking survivor Kendra Ross. In 2018, she was awarded an almost $8 million judgment, the largest civil single-plaintiff human-trafficking award in U.S. history, in the suit she brought against the nationwide regimented cult Value Creators Inc. (formerly known as the United Nation of Islam).

• Law Firm Innovation Icons, 2025—BTI Consulting
• Client Service A-Team, 2024—BTI Consulting
• Litigation Powerhouse, 2024—BTI Consulting
• Associate Satisfaction A-Listers, 2022—BTI Consulting
• Corporate Pro Bono Partner Award, 2022—Pro Bono Institute