Williams & Connolly LLP is an American

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

based in Washington, D.C. The firm was founded by trial lawyer Edward Bennett Williams in collaboration with Paul Connolly, a former student of his. Williams left the partnership of D.C. firm

Hogan & Hartson Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. It employs about 2,400 lawyers acr ...

to launch his own litigation firm. High-profile cases include the successful defense of U.S. President Clinton's impeachment, representation of Enron's law firm Vinson & Elkins, representation of the motion picture studios in the Kazaa/ Grokster file-trading litigation, defense of the Vioxx cases, and counsel for the plaintiff states in the ''

United States v. Microsoft ''United States v. Microsoft Corporation'', 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), was a landmark American antitrust law case at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally ...

'' antitrust remedy trial. The firm represented Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North during the Iran-Contra Affair and John Hinckley, the would-be assassin of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Clientele

Williams & Connolly partner Robert Barnett has represented Barack Obama, Bill Clinton,

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, James Patterson,

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

, Bob Woodward,

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

, Alan Greenspan, Katharine Graham,

Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke ( ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Fed, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution. Durin ...

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...

, Tim Russert, Barbra Streisand, Jack Welch,

Khaled Hosseini Khaled Hosseini (;Pashto/Dari ; born March 4, 1965) is an Afghan Americans, Afghan-American novelist, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, and former physician. His debut novel ''The Kite Runner'' (2003) wa ...

, Bill Walton,

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...

, Jake Tapper, and others. The firm also represented Elizabeth Holmes in her Theranos criminal trial. The firm's corporate clients include Google, Disney, Samsung, Intel, Bank of America, The Carlyle Group,

Medtronic Medtronic plc is an American medical device company. The company's operational and executive headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and its legal headquarters are in Ireland due to its acquisition of Irish-based Covidien in 2015. While it ...

Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...

, Eli Lilly, and

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...

Recognition

In 2021,

Vault.com Mark Stanford Oldman (born January 5, 1969) is an American entrepreneur, wine expert, and author of several books on wine. He has been described as "one of the wine world's great populizers" and "one of the wine world's great showmen." He regularl ...

ranked Williams & Connolly as the #1 firm for White Collar Defense and Internal Investigation in the United States, and the #2 law firm in Washington, DC. Williams & Connolly was ranked in 2021 as the most selective law firm in the country. Williams & Connolly is the subject of ''Masters of the Game: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Firm'' by Kim Eisler.

Alumni

Prominent alumni of the firm include: *

Elena Kagan Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...

, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court * Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court * Jeffrey Kindler, former CEO of Pfizer * Larry Lucchino, President and CEO Emeritus of the Boston Red Sox *

Gregory Craig Gregory Bestor Craig (born March 4, 1945) is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2010. A former attorney at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly, Craig has represented nume ...

, former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama * Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State * Amul Thapar, Judge on the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals *

Allison Jones Rushing Allison Blair Jones Rushing (born 1982) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since March 2019. Early life, family, and education Born in Hender ...

, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit * Scott Matheson, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Over the past decade, 45

SCOTUS The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

clerks have been full-time or summer associates with Williams & Connolly. Associate Justices

and Brett Kavanaugh are both alumni of the firm.

References

External links

*
Robert B. Barnett profile
mentioning the Clintons and other notable persons as clients

with lawyers Gregory B. Craig, David E. Kendall and Nicole K. Seligman connected to Williams & Connolly profiled
The Defense: Clinton's Team
similar profile at CNN * Article on the defense of Kentucky governor Paul E. Patton. {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams and Connolly Law firms established in 1967 Law firms based in Washington, D.C. 1967 establishments in Washington, D.C.