Perkins Coie got off to a good start: founded in 1912, the Seattle-based firm's earliest clients included one William E. Boeing Sr., founder of the eponymous aeronautics company. The relationship with Boeing contributed to Perkins Coie's reputation for representing high-tech and cutting-edge ventures in what has become one of the nation's technology hotspots. The firm's intellectual property practice-including patent prosecution, patent litigation, and trademark and copyright protection and litigation-now includes more than 200 attorneys.

Perkins Coie likes to say that it provides "counsel to great companies," and a look at its client list will confirm that that's true. Firm clients include household names like Microsoft, Facebook, craigslist, Starbucks, Amazon, and Google.

Although the firm has stayed true to its Seattle roots with the largest office still in Seattle, the firm has expanded to include sixteen domestic offices, including four offices and almost 200 attorneys in California, as well as large offices with more than 100 attorneys each in the Chicago and Washington, DC offices.

Governing Government

Perkins Coie has one of the largest and political law groups in the country. During the most recent Supreme Court term the firm won three major voter rights' cases that challenged the methods used to draw congressional districts. During the last presidential administration, the firm represented President Barack Obama in his personal matters and federally-required financial disclosure reports. It was a Perkins Coie partner who contacted Hawaii's health department in April 2011 to request the president's long-form birth certificate, which he released in an effort to squelch chatter about his citizenship.

And going back one more administration, Perkins Coie made headlines with its 2006 Supreme Court victory in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, in which the Court ruled that the Bush Administration's use of military commissions to try terrorism suspects was unconstitutional. The firm came to represent Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan as a pro bono client through an associate who had been a student of Georgetown Law Professor (and later Acting Solicitor General) Neal Katyal, who chose Seattle as the venue of choice for Hamdan's case.

If You Start Me Up

Perkins Coie has become a go-to firm for tech startups over the past few decades, including advising Amazon on its IPO in 1997. More recent successes include advising Zillow in its initial formation and funding, and helping Facebook shut down spammers, hackers, and phishers-even winning more than $700-million in damages from the so-called "Spam King." The firm has courted new startup clients through its "startupPerColator" website, which helps new companies generate the legal documents needed to form a Delaware "C" corporation free of charge. And in 2016 Perkins Coie made news for offering a 15% discount on fees to tech startups with a female founder, helping to even the playing field in a male-dominated industry.

April 2017
Top of Their Game

Perkins Coie was named a top patent appellate firm by the legal media outlet Law360 based on trends and filings in the Federal Circuit. Law360 noted that Perkins Coie was among the firms "that were at the top of their game in 2016, racking up the most wins at the appeals court in high-stakes brawls over patent rights."

March 2017
Digital Currency

Perkins Coie serves as the advising firm for the new Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a nonprofit composed of approximately 30 businesses, including financial and tech companies. The Alliance aims to build business-ready versions of the software behind Ethereum, a decentralized computing network based on digital currency. The firm represented the Alliance from non-profit formation to launch, including the development of organizational documents and counseling on open-source IP matters and trademarks.

March 2017
Gross Growth

The American Lawyer highlighted Perkins Coie's solid financial growth in 2016, with gross revenue edging up 4.3 percent to $781 million while profits per equity partner grew by 7.3 percent to just under $1.2 million. The firm posted its highest-ever profits per partner ($1.18 million) with revenue per lawyer of $850,000. The firm had a total net income of $206 million, a 1.5 percent bump from 2015.

February 2017
Go-To for Startups

JD Journal named Perkins Coie "The Go-To BigLaw Firm for Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs." Since Perkins Coie opened its Silicon Valley office in 1998 it has represented clients on a wide spectrum of business legal issues. According to JD Journal, "for entrepreneurs seeking to take their fledgling company and turn it into a multi-million or, in some cases, billion dollar publicly-traded company, Perkins Coie is there to help."

September 2016
Virtual Reality

Perkins Coie solidified its leadership in the augmented and virtual reality arena by partnering with Upload to publish a new study entitled, "Opportunities and Obstacles Facing Augmented and Virtual Reality." The study, which was widely reported in business and industry media outlets, found that cost, a lack of compelling content, and issues with the user experience are the main impediments to the industry's expansion. The survey was completed by 650 respondents, including AR/VR startup founders, executives with established technology companies, and investors.

April 2016
A Century With Boeing

In celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Perkins Coie client The Boeing Company, the Puget Sound Business Journal highlighted the long-term relationship between Perkins Coie and Boeing. Perkins Coie has represented Boeing for more than 100 years, starting when the firm helped incorporate Boeing (then called Pacific Aero-Products Co). Perkins Coie has been proud to serve among Boeing's legal counsel ever since.