Perkins Coie Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Its Washington, D.C. Office

Washington, D.C. (September 26, 2019) - Perkins Coie is pleased to announce the 40th anniversary of its Washington, D.C., office, which, with over 240 attorneys and professional staff, is the firm's second largest. The office opened in September 1979 with just two attorneys, marking Perkins Coie's first presence on the East Coast.

To celebrate the anniversary and the office's role in the firm's success, Perkins Coie has donated $40,000 to four local charities: the D.C. Lawyers for Children's Hospital Foundation, Bread for the City, the DC Bar Foundation, and the National Veterans Legal Services Program. Each organization received $10,000.

"Over the past four decades, Perkins Coie's Washington, D.C., office has grown from a startup to one of the District's leading corporate, political, technology and regulatory law firms," said Office Managing Partner Bruce Spiva. "Through it all, the office's lawyers and professional staff have built a high-performing and collaborative work environment and have embraced our commitment to the local community through our pro bono work and charitable fundraising."

An established presence in Seattle, Perkins Coie first opened its D.C. office on Vermont Avenue, NW, in part to provide West Coast clients representation in the nation's capital.

The firm's attorneys went on to achieve an impressive track record with corporate, political law and environmental and litigation matters, spurring a move in 2010 to larger offices on 13th Street, NW, near the White House.

In recent years, the firm's attorneys have represented leading political figures and worked on historic voting rights cases, including a significant Supreme Court win in June of this year for Virginia voters. Perkins Coie also expanded its focus on intellectual property - including notable Federal Circuit patent litigation wins - as well as investment management, regulatory law, technology law, and fintech and blockchain matters.

"Our Washington, D.C., office has been a key driver of our firm's growth," said Perkins Coie Firmwide Managing Partner Bill Malley, an 11-year veteran of the D.C. office. "The office continues to see strong demand across a range of corporate, litigation, IP, and regulatory practice areas. And even with our rapid growth, our collegial culture remains strong."

The office has also been recognized for its outstanding commitment to pro bono service by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. Seventy-six of the office's attorneys have worked thousands of pro bono hours so far this year on numerous cases, including in support of Protect Our Defenders and the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights (CAIR) Coalition.

The office and firm are also dedicated to diversity and inclusion and have been named as one of the Top Workplaces by The Washington Post, as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For® and as a Top Ten Firm for Gender Equity by Yale Law Women in its 2019 Top Ten Firms for Gender Equity and Family Friendliness Report. In addition, Perkins Coie earned a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.