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 most prestigious
political law groups in the country. Perkins Coie recently won
three major voter rights' cases before the U.S. Supreme Court 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.
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 that 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.
IN THE NEWS
May 2018
Perkins Coie was again ranked by Chambers & Partners as one
of the top law firms in the United States. 130 Perkins Coie
attorneys were individually recognized by Chambers as leaders in
their field, with 32 attorneys earning the top "Band 1" ranking
within their practice areas. Many of the firm's practice groups
were specially recognized including political law, intellectual
property, privacy & data security and startups & emerging
companies.
February 2018
For the 16th consecutive year Perkins Coie was listed among the
nation's "Best Places to Work." According to Fortune
magazine, attorneys at Perkins Coie described the firm culture as
"open," "friendly," "diverse," and "team-oriented," noting that
there really are "no jerks" allowed. Respondents highlighted the
"great challenges, great atmosphere and great bosses" at the firm.
In a separate survey, Fortune magazine also named Perkins
as one of the top 50 best workplaces for parents.
February 2018
Perkins Coie partnered with long-term client Adobe to create an
innovative, joint 1L diversity fellowship that provides a diverse
first-year law student the unique opportunity to spend part of the
summer in the firm's Palo Alto office and part of the summer
in-house at the client's headquarters. The fellowship is among the
ways Perkins Coie is working to build diversity while strengthening
client relationships.
February 2018
Perkins Coie was featured in the Law360 article, "The
Firms That Dominated At The Federal Circuit In 2017." The article
noted Perkins Coie's 8-1 record in patent cases in the Federal
Circuit during 2017. Perkins Coie tied for fifth in total
victories, and its won-loss record tied for second-best of all
listed firms.
January 2018
Perkins Coie's appellate attorneys were undefeated at the U.S.
Supreme Court during the 2016-2017 term and delivered major wins in
two significant voting rights cases, earning the firm a spot as one
of Law360's 2017 Appellate Groups of the Year. Perkins
Coie achieved a third win in oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme
Court in the North Carolina congressional redistricting case,
Cooper v. Harris.
November 2017
Perkins Coie was the first law firm selected as a Founding
Steward by the Sovrin Foundation, a private sector, international
nonprofit organization established to govern the world's first
self-sovereign identity (SSI) network. The firm's work with the
Sovrin Foundation was recognized by LegalTechNews as an
example of how law firms are leveraging technology to bolster
client relationships.