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. Firm
litigators are particularly well-known for taking on infringement,
unfair competition, false advertising and anti-counterfeiting
claims.
Perkins Coie entered the national spotlight
following its 2006 victory before the U.S. Supreme Court 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 case landed in the firm's lap
when erstwhile Georgetown Law Professor (and current Deputy
Solicitor General) Neal Katyal and JAG Lawyer and Navy Lt.
Commander Charles Swift-working on behalf of Guantanamo detainee
Salim Ahmed Hamdan-settled on Seattle as their venue of choice to
file a lawsuit against the government. One of Katyal's former
students happened to work in Perkins Coie's Seattle office, and
this connection led to Perkins Coie taking the detainee's case pro
bono. The case served as a dramatic rebuke to executive
overreaching and stands as one of Perkins Coie's most notable
victories.
More recently, the firm has represented
President Barack Obama in his personal matters and
federally-required financial disclosure reports. When Obama's
attorney Robert Bauer left the firm to become White House counsel,
partner Judith Corley took over as Obama's rep at the firm's DC
office. She's the one 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.
In addition to domestic offices across the
United States, Perkins Coie has offices in Beijing and Shanghai in
Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone-Shanghai's central financial and
trade district. The Chinese offices focus primarily on intellectual
property, business and personal planning matters for domestic and
international clients (heavily from the technology and
pharmaceutical sector). The Beijing location serves multinational
clients, advising on investment and trade matters, as well as
interpretation of China's business laws and regulations.
Although the offices in China did not open
until the early 2000s, the firm had been active in the country for
several decades before that.
The Perkins Coie office in Taipei, Taiwan was
opened to expand the firm's Asia practice and to better serve its
Taiwan-based clients, particularly in patent litigation and other
intellectual property matters in the United States. The office is
located in the Taipei 101 Tower, an international landmark and one
of the world's tallest buildings.
Attorneys at Perkins Coie have been actively
representing Taiwanese companies for more than a decade in many
high profile patent cases. The firm recently secured an important
patent litigation victory for HTC before the U.S. International
Trade Commission in a case filed against it and others by
FlashPoint Technologies.
While Perkins Coie represents clients in the
usual big sectors-life sciences, clean tech, energy and so on-the
firm has also built up some interesting niches, including wineries
and vineyards, senior living centers and airport concessions. Its
Rolodex is packed with household names like Microsoft, Craigslist,
Starbucks, Expedia, Google, UPS, Intel and Costco.
Although the firm has stayed true to its roots
by keeping its headquarters in Seattle, it has established a
dedicated California practice that's devoted to all things Golden
State, from intellectual property to litigation. As might be
expected, the California practice is centered on the internet,
interactive entertainment, life sciences, retail and clean tech
sectors.
Burning Up the Blogosphere
Perkins Coie launched a number of new blogs over the past year,
including 1600 PTAB, Food Litigation News, The Virtual Currency
Report and White Collar Briefly.
They're Kind of a Big Deal
Among the many "big deals" Perkins Coie worked on were Outerwall's
acquisition of ecoATM; Titan Aerospace's sale to Google; Intermec's
acquisition by Honeywell; Microsoft's sale of Atlas Advertiser
Suite to Facebook; Decide, Inc.'s merger with eBay; Market Leader,
Inc.'s sale to Trulia; and Vulcan Inc. in its acquisition of
Water Pik from EG Capital Group and Zodiac Marine &
Pool.
Big Wins
Perkins Coie litigators scored many successes this past year, such
as defeating class certification for Comcast in a high-stakes case
involving call center wage and hour issues and achieving a $100
million plus fees and costs award for Anacor Pharmaceuticals in an
arbitration involving trade secret and breach of contract
claims.
Driving Diversity
Perkins Coie earned the top rating of 100 percent in the Human
Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the 6th year
in a row; made Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for
the 12th year in a row; was recognized by Working Mother Media and
Flex-Time Lawyers for the 5th time on their "Best Law Firms for
Women"; and received, along with client Microsoft, the American Bar
Association's first-ever Champions for Disability Inclusion in the
Legal Profession award.
Lateral Expansion
Forty lateral partners and 15 senior counsel joined the firm
between January 2013 and June 2014.
Movin' On Up
Twenty-one associates and of counsel were promoted to partner and
39 attorneys were promoted to counsel.
Kudos for Pro Bono
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) awarded Perkins Coie
with the 2013 Amicus Award for the firm's partnership with the
organization. NWIRP and the firm collaborated to protect the civil
rights of Washington residents and to provide critical legal
services to undocumented youth and others.