Overview
Introduction
Winston’s Midwestern roots are reflected in its top-to-bottom friendly culture despite its expansion to 10 domestic and 5 international offices. The firm is known for its work in middle-market private equity, intellectual property, labor and employment, renewable energy, sports law, and white collar expertise. Strong mentorship allows junior associates to develop skills on high-profile matters quickly, and robust wellness, diversity, and pro bono programs contribute to the overall Winston experience.
Firm Stats
Total No. Attorneys (2024)
No. of Partners Named (2023)
Featured Rankings
No. of 1st Year Associates Hired (2024)
No. of Summer Associates (2024)
Base Salary
Vault Verdict
With its strong history in Chicago and impressive global track record, Winston & Strawn presents great opportunities for interactions with partners, pro bono work, and meaningful professional experiences. Recruiting emphasizes academic prowess at elite law schools and geographic connections to local offices. Coworkers are easygoing, professional, collaborative, and respectful of personal lives outside the workplace. Partners value associates and are keen on providing helpful guidance and feedback on work product. In fact, both its formal and informal mentoring arrangements, as well as firm-sponsored training programs, are fruitful. Laterals feel that the firm does a good job onboarding and welcoming them. Significant, challenging projects assigned starting day one is the n...
About the Firm
From its 19th-century Chicago roots, Winston & Strawn has become a global law firm with nearly 1,000 attorneys across the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. Winston is known for its work in middle-market private equity, intellectual property, labor and employment, renewable energy, sports law, and white collar expertise.
Diversifying with the Times
The firm that eventually became Winston & Strawn opened its doors in the Windy City in 1853 under the leadership of Harvard grad Frederick Hampden Winston, who played a vital role in Chicago’s emergence as a powerful business and financial center. Winston left the practice in the hands of his son Frederick Seymour Winston in 1885 to become the American Minister to Persia under President Grover Cleveland. Silas St...
2025 Vault Rankings
Associate Reviews
- “The culture at Winston is one of the firm's strengths. There are firm-sponsored events that are well-attended and good opportunities to socialize with colleagues, but I have also become friends with several of my colleagues and socialize with them outside of work as well.”
- “The firm has a great culture; it's a good balance between being friendly and collaborative, but not so much that boundaries aren't respected. Everyone is collegial in the office and very friendly, but lives outside of work are very much expected. We have some formal social events like weekly happy hours, but there also is no pressure to attend for those who don't want to interact at work. There are enough people to make it as social as you want. Partners are extremely friendly to associates on case projects, and everyone is very friendly to staff. There is a lot of respect all around.”
- “The firm's culture is one of the reasons that this is a great firm! The atmosphere is very collegial, with partners, associates, and staff always extremely professional and great to work with.”
- “Friendly but professional. There are periodic firm-sponsored events, frequent enough to make for a good break but not so frequent as to be too time demanding. The day-to-day atmosphere is good, lots of coordinating across offices on Teams when needed. Staff is respected and treated well.”
Why Work Here
At Winston, you will work with world-class attorneys on important matters for significant clients. We litigate cases and we close transactions. We are shrewd advisers, and our clients view us as trusted business partners.
We are proud of our culture of collaboration, collegiality, and learning. At Winston, you will learn from outstanding attorneys who genuinely care about your professional growth and happiness. You will participate in a comprehensive onboarding and integration program and receive best-in-class, holistic training through Winston University.
Winston’s long-standing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion starts at the top and is embedded in our strategic plan. We have award $50,000 diversity scholarships to law students who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity. In addition, Winston has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus status every year since its inception
Diversity at Winston & Strawn LLP
Getting Hired Here
- “The firm is looking for the best of the best across-the-board and consistently recruits high-quality associates. A significant percentage of [litigation] associates have clerked before, and those that haven't come from elite law schools, all with diversity as well. I'm not aware of training for those who interview candidates, but recruitment does a good job tapping people [on the basis of] aspects of their personality, life experience, or professional skill sets to evaluate candidates with those aspects in common.”
- “The firm is very selective in its hiring process. The firm highly values law school grades, work experience, clerkships, diversity, and personality.”
- “I believe my firm values someone's geographic connection to/interest in the office they're applying to. I think [it] highly values the impression of an individual's personality and whether they seem like they'd get along with others in the workplace and not be a difficult employee.”
- “Law school, grades, and personality are the most important factors in hiring. We really value our culture here, and everyone who comes into the firm needs to buy into that.”
Perks & Benefits