McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Initially founded in 1834, the firm has grown into the largest law firm in the state of Virginia, and has 21 offices across the country. Along with its Richmond headquarters, the firm's largest offices are located in Chicago, Illinois and Charlotte, North Carolina.

History

1800s–1960s

McGuireWoods traces its origins to two lawyers, Egbert R. Watson and Murray Mason McGuire. In 1834, Watson opened a law office in Charlottesville, VA. In 1870, he formed a partnership with his son-in-law, George Perkins in what would become Perkins, Battle & Minor. In 1897, McGuire started practicing law in Richmond, VA. He was joined by John Stewart Bryan in 1898 and the two formed McGuire & Bryan. In the 1960s, the firm became McGuire, Woods, King, Davis & Patterson.

1966–2000

In 1966, Charlottesville’s Battle, Neal, Harris, Minor & Williams merged with Richmond’s McGuire, Woods, King, Davis & Patterson to create McGuire, Woods & Battle. In 1987, the firm merged with Boothe, Prichard & Dudley, a 75-lawyer firm located in Tysons, Virginia, to create McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe. The newly-merged firm became the 33rd largest in the United States at the time. In 1991, McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe merged with Cable, McDaniel, Bowie & Bond, a Baltimore-based law firm. In 1998, the firm established its affiliate McGuireWoods Consulting to provide consulting services in government and public relations.

2000–present

Following additional mergers, the firm changed its name to McGuireWoods in 2000. In 2003, McGuireWoods merged with Chicago-baed firm Ross and Hardies. In 2006, McGuireWoods merged with Chicago-based firm Gordon & Glickson. In 2008, the firm merged with Helms Mulliss & Wicker in North Carolina. In 2009, McGuireWoods opened a London office after a merger with Grundberg Mocatta Rakison. In 2014, McGuireWoods opened its Dallas, Texas office. In 2015, the firm entered into an alliance with FuJae Partners, a Shanghai-based law firm and opened a second office in Los Angeles. In 2016, the firm opened an office in San Francisco. As of 2019, the firm has 21 offices worldwide. In December 2017, Richard Cullen stepped down as chairman of McGuireWoods and partner Jonathan Harmon became the firm’s new chairman. In 2019, Richard Davis was hired as the new chief operating officer. In June 2020, the Open Technology Fund (OTF) asked McGuireWoods, which had been advising it pro bono, for help in a conflict with the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and its then-director Michael Pack. McGuireWoods advised it could not help in the case. OTF learned in December 2020 that the reason for the refusal was that McGuireWoods had decided to investigate OTF on behalf of USAGM and Pack instead. The Government Accountability Project, citing records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, claimed McGuireWoods had billed USAGM $1.625 million at an average rate of $320 an hour after receiving a no-bid contract to investigate OTF as well as Voice of America employees. In 2022, Trump's Save America political action committee paid McGuireWoods almost $900,000 in legal fees.

Notable cases

McGuireWoods alumni

Notable current attorneys and consultants

Attorneys

McGuireWoods Consulting (MWC)

Recognition

McGuireWoods was named one of the most innovative law firms in North America by Financial Times in 2018 and 2019.