Nixon Peabody

Nixon Peabody
Headquarters	Boston, MA
No. of offices	18
No. of attorneys	800
Major practice areas	General practice
Key people	Andrew Glincher, CEO & Managing Partner
Revenue	US$438 million (2010)[1]
Date founded	1999 (merger)
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website
www.nixonpeabody.com

Nixon Peabody LLP is one of the largest multipractice law firms in the United States, with offices in seventeen cities in the United States, and in London, Paris, and Shanghai. It has more than eight hundred attorneys in twenty-five major practice areas. The firm ranks #71 on Vault's top 100 law firms and #64 on the American Lawyer 100.^[2]

Clients include emerging and middle-market businesses, national and multinational corporations, financial institutions, public entities, educational and not-for-profit institutions, and individuals. The firm represents clients such as JetBlue, Constellation Brands, Corning Incorporated, and Gannett Co., among others. Additionally, the firm has represented parties in the financing of new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees. The firm has nearly thirty teams that focus on specific industries or areas of law.

Nixon ranked 66th on Fortune Magazine's Best Companies to Work for in 2008, the third time the firm has appeared on the list. ^[3] Boston Business Journal has similarly ranked its Boston office as one of the best places to work in Massachusetts.^[4]

History

Nixon Peabody was formed by the 1999 merger of two firms that began practicing more than a century ago: Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle LLP and Peabody & Brown. Nixon Hargrave was originally a Rochester, New York, firm that had grown to become one of the largest law firms in New York. It had a strong corporate/institutional practice and a nationally recognized public finance practice. Boston-based Peabody & Brown had a nationally recognized syndication practice and was active in middle and high-growth markets.

In 2000, Nixon Peabody merged with Sixbey Friedman Leedom & Ferguson in Northern Virginia, doubling the size of its intellectual property practice.

The firm expanded into California in 2001 through a merger with Lillick & Charles, founded in San Francisco in 1897. Throughout the 20th century, Lillick developed a strong base of international clients in Asia and Europe, and played a prominent role as advisor to many California businesses. Over the years, Lillick’s practice grew to include some of the leading transportation, financial, insurance, and industrial companies in the world.

In December 2002, Nixon Peabody merged with the 150-year-old Boston firm of Hutchins, Wheeler & Dittmar, adding fifty attorneys in the areas of business, litigation, and health services.^[5]

In late 2008, as many law firms have collapsed or announced layoffs,^[6] Nixon Peabody declared an objective to double the size of the firm in the next three or four years, a move its global head of finance termed “a necessity for our firm.” ^[2][7] The firm has said it will hire up to 100 attorneys^[8] from the dissolving firm Thelen LLP, and in October took on 25 lawyers in Paris, a move that led to a legal dispute with UK firm Taylor Wessing. ^[9]

In February 2009 the firm announced layoffs of 56 attorneys and staff.

In 2009, Nixon Peabody was ranked #67 in the Vault Top 100 Law Firms Rankings.^[10]

Assistance to Guantanamo captives

Attorneys from Nixon Peabody prepared the habeas corpus petition for captives held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[11]

Charles "Cully" Stimson, then Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, stirred controversy when he went on record criticizing the patriotism of law firms that allowed employees to assist Guantanamo captives: "corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists." ^[12]

Anthem

The firm commemorated its first ranking in the Fortune Magazine list with a celebratory anthem titled, "Everyone's a Winner at Nixon Peabody."^[13] The anthem was leaked to the legal gossip blog AboveTheLaw.com. The firm threatened blogger David Lat with legal action if the anthem was not promptly removed from his blog, which only fanned the flames of the story and spread it to the mainstream media.^[14]

2009/2010 Hiring Deferrals

In 2009 Nixon Peabody deferred the start date of its incoming class of new associates. The new class was given a deferred start date of January 4. While some associates started on time, many received notice that their start date would be deferred indefinitely. Nixon Peabody drew criticism from the legal community due to the fact that it informed associates of their indefinite deferral a mere 20 days before they were scheduled to start.^[15]

References

1. ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202489360193&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1 AM Law 100 Gross Revenue]
2. ^ ^{a b} Petra Pasternak (2008-11-17). "Nixon: New Faces Must Love New Faces". Legal Pad. http://legalpad.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/11/nixon-new-faces-must-love-new-faces.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
3. ^ "100 Best Companies to Work For 2008: Full list". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/full_list/. 
4. ^ "Nixon Peabody Named One of `Best Places to Work' in Massachusetts". Business Wire. May 19, 2005. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_May_19/ai_n13730132. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 
5. ^ Nixon press release, 2002-12-23
6. ^ "The Layoff List". Law.com. 2008-11-13. http://www.law.com/jsp/PubArticle.jsp?id=1202425647706. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
7. ^ Sofia Lind (2008-11-17). "Nixon Peabody eyes UK merger in global strategy drive". Legal Week. http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/1181914/Nixon+Peabody+eyes+UK+merger+in+global+strategy+drive.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
8. ^ Zach Lowe (2008-11-07). "Hungry Nixon Set to Hire as Many as 100 From Thelen". The American Lawyer. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425869533. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
9. ^ Zach Lowe (2008-10-29). "After 'Partner Stealing' Case, Nixon Peabody Welcomes 25 French Lawyers". The American Lawyer. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425606741. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
10. ^ http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/!ut/p/c5/hZDbToNAEIafxSeYKVtALrdQ5bAL3XIo5aahoqSkHKxbjPv0QuKFMVZnMjfz5Z98GShg6q4cT3UpT31XniGHwjgYCyuMTVdDzGwNvaWTJURsSUz0ie-_8UgQBz2MQ04MnRG2-Ce9gxyXh7i5H_iHzJmyx6RRAqUjNN5QJU36zitnU2XbdEXttkotPmWKP67aof6D_-I0c7xRFCF0-_YZ9lCYN919A5Ivdxw4e-u4sqIN45IzYQWKj5Faj2Qaf94FKeEonl4Dz_MertJ9vF663SAutF5lkXk0wYeiPvfH-d_hCoY2HYf1i5MrevcJzRiVkg!!/dl3/d3/L0lDU0lKSmdwcGlRb0tVUW9LVVFvS1VRb0tVUW9LVVJtL1lIVUlBQUlJSUlNTUlDS0NFQUFJQUNHSUtBR0lPQkpCSk9CRk5GTk9GRExETE9ESFBIUE9IQW9nb3VBa2lFQU1BQU1pRUFNQUFBISEvNEMxYjlXX05yMGdDVWd4RW1SQ1V3cE1sNG9SU1pLSlNFa3lNU25GSmtFbEVRQSEhLzdfNjE5TlM3SDIwMFZDMjBJNERWVDNRUjNTSjYvVDNYa2E3NjUwMzMxLzExOTMyMDY4OTgzMS9wYWdlUmFuZ2UvNTEtNzUvdmlld1BhZ2luYXRpb24vc2hvd1ZhdWx0QWxsUmFua2luZ1BvcnRsZXQvcmFua2luZ1llYXIvMjAxMC9yb3V0ZXJTaWduYWxGcm9tVmF1bHRBbGxSYW5raW5nUG9ydGxldA!!/
11. ^ Claude Solnik (November 9, 2007). "The fastest growing legal field that doesn’t pay a dime". Long Island Business News. http://www.libn.com/article.htm?articleID=40573. Retrieved 2008-01-19. ^{[dead link]}
12. ^ Lewis, Neil (2007-01-13). "Official attacks top law firms over detainees". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/washington/13gitmo.html. Retrieved 2007-01-17. 
13. ^ "Nixon Peabody Archives: Everyone Is Greener at Nixon Peabody". Above the Law. http://www.abovethelaw.com/nixon_peabody/. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 
14. ^ Mark Hawthorne (2007-08-29). "Ham, a slice of cheese and a dollop of relish". The Age (Australia). http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/ham-a-slice-of-cheese-and-a-dollop-of-relish/2007/08/28/1188067111249.html. 
15. ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2009/12/nixon_peabody_deferral_extensi.php

External links

• Official Firm Website
• LawPeriscope Profile
• Blog entry for abovethelaw.com (includes link to song)