Wiley Rein LLP first opened its doors with 39 attorneys in 1983 as Wiley, Johnson & Rein. From the outset, named partners Richard E. Wiley, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and Bert W. Rein, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, set the firm's standard for excellence. The firm's name has changed a few times since its early years—from Wiley & Rein in 1985, to Wiley Rein & Fielding in 1986 and to Wiley Rein in 2007 (when partner Fred Fielding left to serve as Counsel to President George W. Bush)—but its founding mission has remained constant: to provide innovative, attentive, first-rate advocacy grounded in legal, regulatory and public policy expertise and experience.
Over the years, the firm greatly expanded, growing its diverse practice to include insurance law, government contracts, international trade, litigation, public policy, intellectual property, bankruptcy, environmental safety, consumer products, corporate, election law, aviation, franchise, health care and privacy. By the end of its first decade, the firm had more than 130 lawyers, and by 1995, Wiley Rein was home to more than 200 attorneys and consultants with specialties in more than a dozen practice areas.
Cementing its reputation as a quintessential Washington, DC firm, as it turned 25, Wiley Rein had further expanded its Government Affairs, Intellectual Property, Privacy, Health Care and Corporate practices, and was recognized by the Legal Times for its pro bono efforts. In 2001, the firm opened its Northern Virginia office and in 2002, acquired Gold Morrison & Laughlin, PC, creating the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Group. When the firm turned 20 in 2003, it boasted more than 250 attorneys and had significantly expanded its Communications and International Trade Practices. At the quarter-century mark, the firm—now home to more than 275 attorneys practicing in almost two-dozen areas of law—has become one of the most influential and respected law firms in the nation's capital.
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RECENT AWARDS
National Law Journal Names Helgi C. Walker One of "Washington's Most Influential Women Lawyers"
Helgi C. Walker, co-chair of Wiley Rein's Appellate Practice, has been named by the National Law Journal as one of "Washington's Most Influential Women Lawyers," a select group of 33 "power players" who have earned a place "among the elite of the Washington bar."
Helgi Walker Named by The American Lawyer As Its "Litigator of the Week"
Helgi C. Walker, a partner in Wiley Rein's Communications Practice was named by The American Lawyer as its "Litigator of the Week" for her role as lead counsel in obtaining for Comcast Corporation a "blockbuster appellate decision" in a judicial challenge to the FCC's first "net neutrality" decision (April 2010). Click here to read more about the case.
Richard E. Wiley Named one of "The Decade's Most Influential Lawyers" by the National Law Journal
Wiley Rein Managing partner Richard E. Wiley was recently named to the National Law Journal's list of "The Decade's Most Influential Lawyers." Mr. Wiley was selected under the "Regulatory" category and is included among 40 attorneys spanning a dozen legal areas whose work "was so consequential that it helped to push the profession, an industry or a practice area substantially forward."
RECENT RANKINGS
Laura Foggan Included in Euromoney's 2010 "Guide to the World's Leading Women in Business Law"
Insurance Practice partner Laura A. Foggan was named in Euromoney's 2010 Guide to the World's Leading Women in Business Law for her work in Insurance and Reinsurance.
2010 Legal 500 US Rates Wiley Rein's Telecom Group among the Nation's Best
Wiley Rein's prominent Telecommunications Practice is again rated among the nation's top-tier Telecom and Broadcast Regulatory groups in the 2010 edition of Legal 500 US, which singles out "dean of the communications bar" Richard E. Wiley and Telecom Practice chair R. Michael Senkowski as "leading lawyers" in their field. Reflecting the depth of the group, accolades extend to partners Andrew G. McBride, Helgi C. Walker and Nancy J. Victory, as well as "big-name hires" Ambassador David A. Gross, former U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, and William S. Consovoy, who returned to the firm upon completion of a his clerkship for Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States. Read more.
The Legal 500 US Names Wiley Rein's Bankruptcy Practice As One of the Best in the Country
The 2010 edition of The Legal 500 US has included Wiley Rein's Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring Practice among the nation's top practices and singled out the work done by practice chair H. Jason Gold, and partners Valerie P. Morrison and Dylan G. Trache. The group is the only non-New York-based group included in the rankings. Read more.