2022 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER WilmerHale

With 1,000 lawyers across the U.S., Asia, and Europe, WilmerHale is a litigation powerhouse, known especially for its work in IP, securities, and appellate litigation, as well as its life sciences and technology experience. The firm counsels in a range of industries, including aviation; big data; education; energy, environment, and natural resources; financial services; health care; insurance; media and entertainment; national security; professional services; and technology. 

Beantown Meets the Beltway

WilmerHale was formed in 2004 when Hale and Dorr LLP and Wilmer Cutler Pickering LLP joined forces. Legacy firm Hale & Dorr dated back to 1918. Among other things, the firm was known for its work in government matters. Firm lawyer Joseph Welch represented the U.S. Army in the legendary U.S. Army-McCarthy congressional proceedings. And Jim St. Clair left the firm in the 1970s to become Special Counsel to Richard Nixon during Water Gate.

Wilmer Cutler & Pickering was launched in the 1960s in DC. Like Hale & Dorr, the firm had experience working in government—its attorneys were counsel to Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, to drop a few names. And the firm laid the groundwork for a future commitment to pro bono as the first signatory to the ABA’S Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge. 

Doing It All

WilmerHale is a full-service shop, handling everything from antitrust and bank regulation to bankruptcy and cybersecurity to M&A and IP to tax and white collar—and many more practices in between. 

The foundation of WilmerHale’s success is its IP practice. The firm combines technical expertise—more than 120 of its lawyers hold scientific and technical degrees—with BigLaw firepower. Annually, the firm secures hundreds of patents and trademark registrations worldwide. One factor behind the department’s excellence has been the firm’s sophisticated multi-jurisdictional representation of an all-star roster of high-profile IP clients, including Apple, Abbott Laboratories, Intel, Broadcom Corp., Boeing, Boston Scientific, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Monsanto, Novartis, Oracle, Pfizer, and Wyeth. 

The firm is also well known for its Appellate & Supreme Court Litigation practice. WilmerHale attorneys have argued more than 140 cases before SCOTUS and are regulars before state and federal appellate courts. The firm has been named to The National Law Journal’s Appellate Hot list every year for over a decade.

In the life sciences area, the firm brings a multi-disciplinary approach. Clients include biotechnology, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. The group works across such areas as corporate finance, licensing, M&A, patent issues and IP counseling, regulatory matters, and more.

Harvard Do-Gooders

In 1992, Hale & Dorr lawyers donated money to establish the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, which is a clinical teaching facility through which Harvard law students help people in the community in such areas as estate planning, domestic violence, tax, housing, predatory lending, and veterans law. Firm attorneys also work with the clinic, providing hundreds of hours of pro bono service.

• Representing the U.S. Army in the Army-McCarthy hearings.
• Arguing NAACP v. Clairborne Hardware Co., helping the NAACP avoid a financial penalty that could have forced it to close.
• Achieving a reversal in a Tulia, Texas drug sting case in which multiple defendants, more than 10% of Tulia’s African-American population, were wrongfully convicted.
• Helping to combat voter suppression, particularly among voters of color, new citizens, and religious communities, with the ACLU and other public interest organizations.

• Law Firm of the Year, 2021—The American Lawyer
• Named Best Law Firm for Women for 14 consecutive years—Seramount/Working Mother Media
• Litigation Department of the Year Finalist, 2021—The American Lawyer
• Top International Law Firm for Latin American Work, 2022—Latinvex
• Second among Top Firms for Attorney Satisfaction, 2022—Law360 Pulse