Nixon Peabody
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nixon Peabody LLP | |
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| Type | Limited liability partnership |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters |  Boston, MA New York, NY |
| Key people | Harry P. Trueheart III Chairman and Managing Partner |
| Industry | Legal services |
| Products | Full legal services |
| Revenue | N/A |
| Employees | 700 Attorneys |
| Website | www.nixonpeabody.com |
Nixon Peabody LLP is one of the largest multipractice law firms in the United States, with offices in seventeen cities in the United States and one in London, and more than seven hundred attorneys collaborating across twenty-five major practice areas. The firm ranks #75 on Vault's top 100 law firms and #64 on the American Lawyer 100.
Clients include emerging and middle-market businesses, national and multinational corporations, financial institutions, public entities, educational and not-for-profit institutions, and individuals. The firm represents clients such as JetBlue, Constellation Brands, Corning Incorporated, and Gannett Co., Inc, among others. Additionally, the firm has represented parties in the financing of new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees. The firm has fifteen major areas of practice and nearly thirty teams that focus on specific industries or areas of law.
Nixon is best known for its firm culture, which is unique among larger firms. It was ranked 49th on Fortune Magazine's Best Companies to Work for in 2007, the second time the firm appeared on the list. [1] Boston Business Journal similarly ranked its Boston office as one of the best places to work in Massachusetts.[2] The firm has also implemented diversity initiatives in recent years to boost the number of minorities working for the firm. Nixon Peabody LLP has also been named to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2007 “Best Places To Work For GLBT Equality” list.
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[edit] History
Nixon Peabody was formed by the 1999 merger of two firms that began practicing more than a century ago: Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle LLP and Peabody & Brown. Nixon Hargrave was originally a Rochester, New York, firm that had grown to become one of the largest law firms in New York. It had a strong corporate/institutional practice and a nationally recognized public finance practice. Boston-based Peabody & Brown had a nationally recognized syndication practice and was active in middle and high-growth markets. Both firms wanted to expand their geographic reach and broaden and deepen their practice strengths so they could offer a diverse array of high-quality legal services to regional, national, and international clients.
In 2000, Nixon Peabody merged with Sixbey Friedman Leedom & Ferguson in Northern Virginia, doubling the size of its intellectual property practice. The firm expanded into California in 2001 through a merger with Lillick & Charles, a firm with seventy attorneys and practice strengths in business, finance, real estate, commercial litigation, insurance coverage litigation, aircraft defense litigation, and international commerce.
Most recently, Nixon Peabody united with the 150 year old Boston firm of Hutchins, Wheeler & Dittmar, adding fifty attorneys with exceptional skills and experience in business, litigation, and health services. Additionally, several partners of the Chicago office of the struggling law firm of Jenkens & Gilchrist joined the firm. On February 14, 2007, Nixon Peabody announced the opening of its newest office in Silicon Valley, having acquired several attorneys from King and Spalding.
[edit] Assistance to Guantanamo captives
Attorneys from Nixon Peabody prepared the habeas corpus petition for captives held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[3]
Charles "Cully" Stimson, then Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, stirred controversy when he went on record criticizing the patriotism of law firms that allowed employees to assist Guantanamo captives: "corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists." [4] Stimson's views were widely criticized. The Pentagon disavowed them. And he resigned shortly thereafter.
[edit] Anthem
The firm commemorated its first ranking in the Fortune Magazine list with a celebratory anthem titled, "Everyone's a Winner at Nixon Peabody."[5] The anthem was leaked to the legal gossip blog AboveTheLaw.com. In an apparent public relations blunder, the firm threatened blogger David Lat with legal action if the anthem were not promptly removed from his blog, which only fanned the flames of the story and spread it to the mainstream media, making the firm the subject of widespread ridicule on legal blogs and message boards.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007: Full list | FORTUNE
- ^ "Nixon Peabody Named One of `Best Places to Work' in Massachusetts", Business Wire, May 19, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ Claude Solnik. "The fastest growing legal field that doesn’t pay a dime", Long Island Business News, Friday, November 9, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ Lewis, Neil. "Official attacks top law firms over detainees", New York Times, 2007-01-13. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ "Re. Nixon Peabody", Youtube. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ "Nixon Peabody Archives: Everyone Is Greener at Nixon Peabody", Above the Law. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
