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.
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.