The Washington, D.C. office comprises approximately 235 lawyers and policy professionals in a wide variety of practice disciplines.   It is one of the 20 largest law offices in Washington and services clients throughout the United States as well as internationally.

The office is known nationally for its work in the diversified financial services area and offers one of the largest such practices in the country.  It includes a preeminent investment management practice — consistently ranked among the leading such practices in the United States — in which our lawyers counsel investment companies, investment advisers, mutual fund complexes, private funds, hedge funds, and retirement plans on a variety of regulatory, tax, ERISA fiduciary and compliance matters.  It also includes one of the country's largest mortgage banking/consumer finance groups, which provides clients with assistance and representation in buying and selling mortgage companies and mortgage-related assets; in securitizing such assets; in obtaining required federal and state licenses and approvals; and in ongoing federal and state regulatory and licensing compliance, governmental agency (e.g. HUD, DOJ) enforcement proceedings, and mortgage and consumer finance-related litigation.  Our securities enforcement practice is one of the largest and geographically diverse of any law firm and encompasses representation of financial services firms, regulated entities, public companies, their officers and directors, and other individuals in investigations and actions brought under the securities laws by the SEC, FINRA, DOJ, state regulators, and other self-regulatory agencies.  Our practice includes more than three dozen alumni of the SEC and DOJ, as well as a former President of the North American Securities Administrators Association.  We also have a broker-dealer practice that provides frequent regulatory counseling to a significant number of broker-dealers, from the very largest to firms just starting business.

The office also has one of Washington's largest and most successful public policy and lobbying practices.  This group includes a bi-partisan team of more than 60 attorneys and policy professionals with an in-depth knowledge of the legislative process, substantive experience and strong ties to key decision makers in Congress.  Our public law and policy group has been together for over 35 years and has built its practice by understanding how the complex policy-making process works from start to finish.  Our victories have required creative strategies and the successful integration of lobbying, regulatory implementation, coalition building, political assistance, public relations and practical day-to-day operational excellence.  We have strong relationships with Democrats and Republicans in the House, the Senate and the Administration.  We have over 500 years collective government experience.  Among our attorneys and professionals are a former Senator, two former House members, and key former Republican and Democratic counsel and staff to the House and Senate leadership and committees.  We also work closely with our counterparts in the EU and Asia, and with our dedicated state policy practices in Pennsylvania, Texas and North Carolina, to offer a truly Global Government Solutions capability.

In addition to our financial services and policy and public law practices, the Washington office has a strong litigation group that handles a variety of general commercial, securities, financial institutions, antitrust, government contracts, environmental and insurance coverage matters, as well as criminal and civil actions brought by, and civil actions against, governmental agencies.  Our litigators, led by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, have recently been involved in a number of high-profile internal investigations, including serving as the lead investigator in the WorldCom bankruptcy, in the internal CBS investigation of the “60 Minutes” story involving President Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard, in the bankruptcy of sub-prime lender New Century Financial and in the Senate Ethics Committee investigation of former Nevada Senator John Ensign.

The office also includes prominent national practices in energy, telecom, media and technology, and antitrust.  Our energy lawyers have been in the forefront of the development of competitive energy markets and regional transmission organizations, with substantial experience in energy mergers and acquisitions, energy market structure, rate regulation, electric power sale transactions and market-based rate authority.  We regularly represent clients in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission litigation and appeals, as well as related state public utility commission proceedings.  Our interdisciplinary, industry-focused telecom, media and technology (“TMT”) practice serves the specialized needs of businesses, entrepreneurs, inventors and investors in these converging sectors.  The group provides strategic counsel for businesses in these industries and has deep experience with how TMT businesses are regulated, the kinds of transactions they engage in, how they market their goods and services, the types of disputes they encounter and the kinds of IP they seek to protect and enforce.  Our antitrust lawyers regularly represent industry leaders in cases and investigations involving allegations of abuses of market power, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and agreements among competitors.  Virtually all of our antitrust lawyers regularly practice before regulatory agencies and most of our energy and telecommunications lawyers have antitrust experience. 

Our growing corporate and finance group, in addition to providing advice to public and private companies on a variety of transactional, regulatory, and other matters, also includes a structured finance practice and project finance capability.   Our information technology, life sciences, and privacy lawyers as well as our intellectual property lawyers advise both old and new economy clients on a wide range of issues, including patent, licensing and contractual arrangements, Internet access and website design and implementation, and privacy policy formulation and compliance.  Our lawyers in the food and drug area provide our clients with an extensive range of services for products regulated by the FDA and USDA, including intellectual property, business transactions, licensing, regulatory compliance, pre-market notifications and product approvals.  Our lawyers in the transportation area represent a number of local and regional rail carriers and transit authorities on a variety of regulatory, transactional, and other matters affecting their operations.  Our leading national maritime practice represents carriers and port authorities, vessel operators and fish vessel operators in all aspects of their operations including regulation, financing, and vessel documentation.  Finally, our growing international trade practice handles all types of issues involving import and export controls, customs, FCPA, Exon-Florio, anti-dumping, countervailing duties, and related matters.

Consistent with the strength of the Washington, D.C. office, the 2011-2012 U.S. News-Best Lawyers® awarded 12 Tier 1 rankings for the following practice areas: Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Criminal Defense: White Collar Governmental Investigations, Criminal Defense: White Collar Litigation, Derivatives and Futures Law, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Mutual Funds Law, Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, Securities Litigation, and Securities Regulation.