Nixon Peabody LLP is a Global 100 Boston-based law firm with over 700 attorneys collaborating across major practice areas in cities across the U.S. and in international offices in London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. In addition to the firm's Boston headquarters, it maintains U.S. office locations in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Albany, Buffalo, Manchester, Rochester, and Providence. The firm ranks 67th on Vault's top 100 law firms and, as of 2015, 75th on American Lawyer 100.
Clients include emerging and middle-market businesses, national and multinational corporations, financial institutions, public entities, educational and not-for-profit institutions, and individuals. The firm represents clients such as JetBlue, Constellation Brands, Corning Incorporated, and Gannett Co., among others. Additionally, the firm has represented parties in the financing of new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees. The firm has nearly thirty teams that focus on specific industries or areas of law.
Nixon ranked 66th on Fortunes "Best Companies to Work for in 2008", the third time the firm has appeared on the list. Boston Business Journal has similarly ranked its Boston office as one of the best places to work in Massachusetts. Wired has described the firm as having "a progressive mentality.
Stephen Zubiago serves as the Nixon Peabody's chief executive officer and managing partner, a role he has held since February 2021. Andrew Glincher is the firm's senior chairman.
History
Nixon Peabody was formed by the 1999 merger of two firms that began practicing more than a century ago: Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle LLP and Peabody & Brown. Nixon Hargrave was originally a Rochester, New York, firm that had grown to become one of the largest law firms in New York. It had a strong corporate/institutional practice and a nationally recognized public finance practice. Boston-based Peabody & Brown had a nationally recognized syndication practice and was active in middle and high-growth markets.
In 2000, Nixon Peabody merged with Sixbey Friedman Leedom & Ferguson in Northern Virginia, doubling the size of its intellectual property practice.
The firm expanded into California in 2001 through a merger with Lillick & Charles, founded in San Francisco in 1897. Throughout the 20th century, Lillick developed a strong base of international clients in Asia and Europe, and played a prominent role as advisor to many California businesses. Over the years, Lillick's practice grew to include some of the leading transportation, financial, insurance, and industrial companies in the world.
In December 2002, Nixon Peabody merged with the 150-year-old Boston firm of Hutchins, Wheeler & Dittmar, adding fifty attorneys in the areas of business, litigation, and health services.
As of 2008, the firm had 1,728 employees in the U.S. and two abroad. The average salary for an Associate Attorney was $178,016, and for a secretary $67,733. Women make up 59% of employees, minorities 19%. The firm offers domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples.
In late 2008, when many law firms were collapsing or announcing layoffs, Nixon Peabody declared an objective to double the size of the firm in the next three or four years, a move its global head of finance termed "a necessity for our firm." The firm said it would hire up to 100 attorneys from the dissolving firm Thelen LLP, and in October took on 25 lawyers in Paris, a move that led to a legal dispute with UK firm Taylor Wessing.
In April 2014, Nixon Peabody announced it cut 38 positions, reportedly for "operational efficiency through a flatter administrative structure and a more centralized legal support model."
In February 2015, Chicago-based mid-sized law firm Ungaretti & Harris LLP merged into Nixon Peabody, adding 100 attorneys and experience in corporate, health care, real estate, litigation, public finance, intellectual property and government relations.
In October 2015, Nixon Peabody consolidated operations with CWL Partners, a firm based in Hong Kong. The two firms had been formally associated with each other since 2010. The combined firm is known as Nixon Peabody CWL in Hong Kong, but will remain as Nixon Peabody LLP in the U.S., Europe and in the firm's Shanghai, China, office. The combination adds 30 lawyers and staff, and increases the firm's Asia presence.