About Us: Firm Profile

At McGuireWoods, we deliver quality work, personalized service and exceptional value. We use technology to provide efficient legal solutions and employ a diverse workforce to bring real-world and innovative perspectives to meet our clients’ needs.

With approximately 900 lawyers and 17 strategically located offices worldwide, McGuireWoods uses client-focused teams to serve public, private, government and nonprofit clients from many industries including automotive, energy resources, health care, technology and transportation.

Firm Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, 2011 – 177 lawyers named “Best Lawyers” in this leading referral guide to the legal profession in the United States.

Belgian Legal Awards Group, 2010 – McGuireWoods’ Brussels office named "The Best United States Law Firm in Brussels."

BTI A-Team, 2009 – BTI Consulting Group, Inc. listed McGuireWoods as one of its top 30 “Client Service A-Team” law firms based on client surveys – one of only 10 law firms in the country to make the list for four consecutive years.

Chambers USA, 2010 – 61 partners recognized as “America’s Leading Lawyers.”

Corporate Counsel, 2009 – Named a "Go-To” law firm by Fortune 100 corporate counsel who were surveyed about which law firms represent America's largest corporations. MW ranked as one of the top 10 go-to law firms in the United States, and one of the top five firms for labor and employment work. 

Super Lawyers, Law & Politics, 2009 – 134 lawyers named “Super Lawyers,” an honor awarded annually to the top 5% of each state’s lawyers; and 61 lawyers named Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" for 2009.

Practice Area/Industry Rankings

The Bond Buyer, 2010 – Ranked the No. 5 bond counsel firm by total issue volume in the Southeast in 2009. We served as bond counsel on transactions amounting to more than $2.7 billion. We were also ranked the No. 3 firm in Virginia, the No. 4 firm in Tennessee, and the No. 5 firm in North Carolina, for total issue volume.

Thomson Reuters Capital Markets Review of Legal Advisors, 2010 – Ranked third by monetary value in the United States among top law firms for serving as issuer’s counsel for global equity issuances on behalf of issuers in 2009. We represented issuers in connection with global equity offerings representing more than $19 billion in proceeds; and ranked in the top five for U.S. common stock offerings on behalf of issuers and U.S. equity and equity-related issuances.

Wealth Management: Chambers USA, 2010, 2009 – One of only two firms in the United States to have its wealth management practice receive the highest possible ranking – Band 1 for Wealth Management: Nationwide.

Employment Law360 Litigation Almanac, 2009 – Ranked as having one of the "Top 10 Busiest Employment, Civil Rights and ADA Practices" in the United States.

Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation, 2009 – Consistently ranked in the top 20 firms nationally in syndicated loans by volume of credit exposure and number of deals by Loan Pricing Corporation’s Law Firm League Table. For 2009, the firm tied for 8th overall by deal volume representing lead arrangers/administrative agents in major syndicated finance transactions. Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation is the premier provider of league tables in the syndicated loan market.

American Health Lawyers Association, 2009 – Ranked one of the top 10 largest health care law firms in the United States.

IP Law & Business, 2009 – Named one of the "Top Guardians of the IP Nest." In the listing based on a survey of BusinessWeek's 50 most innovative companies, McGuireWoods is one of only 23 firms in the United States named a "go-to firm."

IP Today, 2009 – Ranked one of the top 40 trademark law firms in the United States.

BTI Industry Power Rankings, 2008 – Ranked a "Primary" law firm for pharmaceuticals.

Diversity & Pro Bono Recognitions

MultiCultural Law Magazine, 2009 –For the second consecutive year, named a "Top 100 Law Firm for Diversity" and one of the top law firms for women and African-American lawyers. 

Working Mother Magazine, 2009 – One of only 50 law firms nationwide named a “Best Law Firm for Women.”

Northern Virginia Pro Bono Law Center, Law Firm of the Year, 2008 – McGuireWoods and AOL named “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year” for creating first-of-its-kind relationship between a corporate in-house legal department and a law firm. AOL attorneys and McGuireWoods lawyers provide a monthly outreach clinic to help citizens with immigration, child custody, divorce, housing, public benefits and other issues.

International Paper – Inaugural recipient of International Paper's “Lighthouse Award” for distinguishing ourselves in the area of diversity by example and leadership.

Minority Corporate Counsel Association – Awarded the Thomas L. Sager Award for our commitment to hiring, retaining and promoting ethnic minority lawyers.

DuPont Challenge Awards – Member of DuPont Primary Law Firm Network from inception of DuPont's convergence program. Honored consistently with “Challenge Award,” given to the best of DuPont’s primary law firms for their contributions to and support of the advancement of the DuPont Legal Model’s objectives.

Pro Bono Initiative Honor Roll – Named on the Pro Bono Initiative’s “Honor Roll” for our commitment to providing legal services to people who cannot afford legal representation.

Partnering

Having been selected to participate in formal convergence programs with clients such as DuPont and International Paper, McGuireWoods prides itself on “partnering” with clients by listening to their needs, understanding their businesses, and utilizing this knowledge base to provide efficient service. In many cases, we serve as national or regional counsel for corporations such as DuPont, Ford and Siemens.

We apply the lessons learned from these relationships to better manage work for all our clients. Knowing that clients have specific needs, we discuss arrangements with each client to find what best matches each client’s preferences. Our hourly rates are competitive, and we have a number of alternative fee arrangements in place with many clients. We have also worked with clients to determine fixed fees for a portfolio of work or phases of litigation, and have arranged retainers and blended rates when appropriate.

As a leader in the successful implementation of alternative fee arrangements, McGuireWoods was featured on the front page of the Chicago Tribune business section and was highlighted in American Lawyer Media and the Baltimore Business Journal for our commitment to and experience in alternative fee arrangements. Our alternative fee arrangements allow us to work with each client’s individual needs to develop relationships that work.

Technology

At McGuireWoods, technology is one of many tools we use to provide exceptional client service. While we of course use traditional venues such as e-mail and instant messaging, we are particularly adept at creating and using more robust methods of collaboration as well. We bring to bear extranets, case management systems, and real-time online meetings to name a few, all to improve responsiveness, control costs, and increase the depth of our client interactions.

We share knowledge internally through a formal knowledge management initiative that identifies, captures and publishes best practices within the firm. We can summon the institutional knowledge of our entire firm to identify specific experience among our lawyers, or to leverage best practices based on that experience. The end results for clients are consistent work product, incredible responsiveness, and efficient delivery.

Our website provides legal updates in plain language with common sense commentary. We also keep thousands of clients and friends updated on breaking developments through a complimentary e-mail news service, targeted to specific audiences with various interests and needs for legal news. We host regular seminars, live and virtual, on critical aspects of the law in each of our practice areas.

We recognize that sophisticated clients often engage the services of multiple firms. We excel at working alongside other outside counsel to clients’ mutual advantage. For example, we may serve as National Discovery Counsel, coordinating discovery efforts across multiple states with different trial counsel in each. We have shared both technology and access to information with such firms so that clients get the benefit of a coordinated team.

Breadth of Services

To complement our legal services, we offer a number of solutions outside the legal realm, such as those provided by our subsidiaries McGuireWoods Consulting LLC and McGuireWoods Capital Group. These groups offer a wide range of government and public relations services, business advisory services, and other non-legal consulting services.

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McGuireWoods is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 member firms, creators of Hieros Gamos, a comprehensive legal database. We are also members of the State Capital Global Law Firm Group (member firms of the State Capital Law Firm Group practice independently and not in a relationship for the joint practice of law), and a part of the United States Law Firm Group, a network of 19 general practice U.S. law firms, each separate entities that practice law independently. McGuireWoods is also a participant in the DuPont Legal Model.