Goodwin Procter

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Goodwin Procter LLP
Managing Partner)
RevenueIncrease $1.97 billion USD (2021)[1]
Profit per equity partnerIncrease $3.69 million USD (2021)[2]
Date founded1912
FoundersRobert Goodwin and Joseph Procter
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websitegoodwinlaw.com

Goodwin Procter LLP is an American multinational

life sciences
.

Goodwin currently has over 2,800 employees worldwide, representing a nearly 30% increase in lawyers and staff since January 2021, and more than a 60% increase overall since 2017.[4] This growth has been mirrored by the firm's rising revenues, which increased from $1.33 billion in 2019 to $1.49 billion in 2020, and reaching $1.97 billion in 2021.[5] Between 2010 and 2021, Goodwin's annual revenue nearly tripled.[6] In January 2023, Goodwin laid off five percent of its total workforce, quoting a lack of "current and projected demand."[7]

History

Goodwin's office in Boston's Seaport District

In 1912, lawyers and former

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
(and would later become its Chief Justice), and the firm was renamed Goodwin, Procter & Hoar, a name it would retain for the next 72 years. The Depression years proved pivotal for the firm's future diversification and growth. Liquidation cases, including the unwinding of the Boston Continental Bank, provided a surge of business,[11] as did the proliferation of federal agencies and regulations brought on by the New Deal.[12] Around the same time, Greater Boston's manufacturing and maritime industries faded and the financial management industry expanded, presenting new opportunities for work on highly complex financial transactions.

Goodwin Procter also undertook matters involving public service and public policy, including public investigations of corruption and malfeasance, as well as cases with constitutional overtones. When the Massachusetts governor pardoned New England Mafia boss Raymond Patriarca in 1938, the resulting public furor led the Legislature to establish a commission to investigate the state's pardon and parole procedures. Sam Hoar, with Don Hurley as his lieutenant, headed the commission, whose resulting investigation led to reform of the pardon laws and impeachment of a member of the Governor's Council.

New York Times Building

After World War II, partners Leonard Wheeler and Frank Wallis played instrumental roles in the historic Nuremberg Trials, presenting much of the Americans' case against the Nazis.[15][16] "It was a most amazing and thrilling experience," recalled Wallis. "I was speaking to the world - not only the world of today but the world of future generations."[17] Post-war practice would not be business as usual as the firm reached a generational turning point, with Robert Goodwin entering semi-retirement and Sam Hoar's passing in 1952.[18] (Joe Procter had died earlier in 1932.)[19] Goodwin formally retired in 1963, ending a 60-year legal career; he died in 1971.[20]

In 1960, tax partners Allan Higgins and Charlie Post helped draft and secure passage of the Real Estate Investment Trust Act,[21] which was hailed as a significant catalyst for real estate development across the country.[22] In 1963, partner Don Hurley played a role in conceiving, drafting and securing passage of an amendment to the Bank Holding Company Act exempting parent companies of single banks and non-banking subsidiaries from federal restrictions on commercial banks.[23]

In 1969, after more than a half-century in the India Building at 84 State Street, the firm moved to a new office tower at 28 State, where it would remain for 16 years before moving to Exchange Place at 53 State Street in 1985.[24] To celebrate its 75th anniversary in 1987, the firm made a donation of $1 million to the City of Boston to fund initiatives in public education. The donation, called SEED (Support for Early Educational Development), was made up entirely of individual contributions by the firm's partners.[25][26]

With 280 lawyers, Goodwin Procter entered the 1990s as the “largest law firm under one roof in the country,” according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.[27] The firm made its first foray outside Boston in 1994 with an office in Washington, D.C., followed by one in New York in 1997. The acquisition of 27 lawyers from a northern New Jersey firm and 13 litigators from a New York products liability shop bolstered the firm's IP and litigation practices in New York.[28]

In 1998, Regina Pisa became the first woman to be named chairman and Managing Partner of an

Boston Globe called possibly "the biggest coup in Boston legal history."[32] Goodwin first established its West Coast presence in 2006, opening offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.[33] It launched its Silicon Valley presence in 2007.[34]
The firm went global in 2008 with offices in London (Goodwin's first European location) and Hong Kong.

At its century mark in 2012, Goodwin had 850 lawyers and another 720 professional staff serving clients from offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. As part of its centennial celebrations, the firm started its Annual Days of Service tradition, during which employees in each office give back to their communities. In 2015, Goodwin announced the opening of an office in

Santa Monica, Luxembourg and Cambridge.[38][39][40] In April 2022, Goodwin continued expanding its European operations by opening a second German office in Munich.[41] Goodwin's Singapore office, opened in October 2022, marked the firm's second location in Asia.[42]

Clients

  • Japan's Kyowa Kirin acquired Orchard Therapeutics for $477.6 million. Goodwin advised the British pharmaceutical company in the deal.[43]
  • The firm advised OpenAI on its fundraising efforts.[44]

Notable current or former attorneys

  • Regina Pisa, the first woman in the United States to be named both chairman and managing partner of an
    American Lawyer
    100 law firm.
  • Katherine Wawrzyniak, the former deputy chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

Rankings

Goodwin currently ranks 17th on the American Lawyer’s annual ranking of U.S. law firms by gross revenue,[45] and its lawyers and practice groups are consistently recognized by Chambers,[46] U.S. News & World Report[47] and Legal 500.[48]

See also

References

  1. ^ March 04, Patrick Smith |; PM, 2022 at 04:13. "Sky-High Demand Pushes Goodwin to More Than 30% Growth in Revenue, Profit Pool". Law.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15. The firm saw its revenue jump from $1.49 billion in 2020 to $1.97 billion in 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ March 04, Patrick Smith |; PM, 2022 at 04:13. "Sky-High Demand Pushes Goodwin to More Than 30% Growth in Revenue, Profit Pool". Law.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15. The firm crossed the $3 million mark for PEP for the first time.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "The 2021 Global 200: Ranked by Gross Revenue". Law.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  4. ^ "Goodwin Procter Company Profile". Firsthand. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  5. ^ March 04, Patrick Smith |; PM, 2022 at 04:13. "Sky-High Demand Pushes Goodwin to More Than 30% Growth in Revenue, Profit Pool". Law.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15. The firm saw its revenue jump from $1.49 billion in 2020 to $1.97 billion in 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "How Goodwin's Big Bet on Tech 'Convergence' Pushed Up Revenue". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  7. ^ "The legal industry is struggling to find enough work for its lawyers". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  8. ^ "TIP - Limitation of Liability Hearings - Claim of Mary E. Newell (Arthur Newell)". www.titanicinquiry.org.
  9. ^ "Obituaries: R.E. Goodwin, Lawyer; Town, State Official". Boston Globe. July 29, 1971.
  10. ^ "Distinguished Service Cross Recipients, World War I, 1917-1918" (PDF). U.S. Department of Defense. August 17, 2019.
  11. ^ "Goodwin Centennial Book" (PDF). Goodwin. August 17, 2019.
  12. ^ "Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  13. ^ "Will Call Hurley in Patriarca Inquiry". Boston Globe. 1939.
  14. ^ "Report Finds 'Systemic Abuse' In Probation Hiring". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  15. ^ "852 RARE: The Weekly Special – HLSL's Nuremberg Trials Project Grows". etseq.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  16. ^ "American Major Frank B. Wallis (standing), a member of the trial counsel and trial preparation legal staff, presents the prosecution's case to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  17. ^ "Centennial Book" (PDF). Goodwin. 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  18. ^ "Samuel Hoar Gave Concord Land for Wild Life Sanctuary". Daily Boston Globe. August 19, 1952.
  19. ^ "Joshua Procter Jr Dies in Hospital". Boston Globe. 1932.
  20. ^ "Obituaries: R.E. Goodwin, lawyer; town, state official". Boston Globe. July 29, 1971.
  21. ^ "Goodwin Centennial Book" (PDF). Goodwin. 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  22. ^ "REIT Industry Timeline". Nareit. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  23. ^ "Goodwin Centennial Book" (PDF). Goodwin. 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  24. ^ "Goodwin Centennial Book" (PDF). Goodwin. 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  25. ^ Snyder, Sarah (February 11, 1987). "Law Firm Gives $1M to Boston Schools". Boston Globe.
  26. ^ "Obituary: Robert B. Fraser, JP resident, dies – Jamaica Plain Gazette". jamaicaplaingazette.com. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  27. ^ "Obituary: Robert B. Fraser, JP resident, dies – Jamaica Plain Gazette". jamaicaplaingazette.com. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  28. ^ "Goodwin Centennial Book" (PDF). Goodwin. 2012.
  29. ^ "Goodwin Procter Names New Chairman". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  30. ^ "Goodwin Procter acquires Shea & Gardner". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 2004-06-13.
  31. ^ Kimberly Blanton, How Goodwin Procter won many of Testa's law partners, Boston.com, February 6, 2005
  32. ^ Kimberly Blanton, How Goodwin Procter won many of Testa's law partners, Boston.com, February 6, 2005
  33. ^ "Goodwin Procter Establishes West Coast Presence; Opens Offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco". BusinessWire (Press release). Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  34. ^ "Goodwin Procter Opens Office Palo Alto". Goodwin Procter LLP. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  35. ^ "With Frankfurt Launch, Goodwin Procter Enters Crowded German Market". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  36. ^ "Driven By Global Client Demand, Goodwin Extends International Private Equity and M&A Platform into France". Goodwin. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  37. ^ "Goodwin Boosts Private Equity and Funds Platform with the Addition of a Significant Private Investment Funds Team in London". www.goodwinlaw.com. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  38. ^ March 08, Xiumei Dong |; PM, 2019 at 12:08. "Goodwin Jumps on Silicon Beach Bandwagon". The Recorder. Retrieved 2019-08-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  39. ^ October 02, Dan Packel |; AM, 2019 at 5:00. "Goodwin Becomes Second US Firm to Launch in Luxembourg". Law.com. Retrieved 2019-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  40. ^ November 026, Rose Walker |; AM, 2019 at 5:00. "Goodwin Opens in Cambridge to Break Into Tech Market". Law.com. Retrieved 2019-11-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ "Goodwin's Momentum In Europe Continues With Opening Of Munich Office". www.goodwinlaw.com. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  42. ^ "Goodwin Launches In Singapore To Continue Focus On Private Equity, Technology and M&A". www.goodwinlaw.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  43. ^ "Goodwin, Mofo, Slaughters guide $478 mln bio-pharma acquisition".
  44. ^ "OpenAI's Threatened Exodus Would Upend Legal Team Operation". Bloomberg Law.
  45. ^ "The 2022 Am Law 100: Gross Revenue". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  46. ^ "Goodwin". Chambers and Partners. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  47. ^ "Goodwin". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  48. ^ "Goodwin". The Legal 500. Retrieved 2022-09-16.