Alston & Bird

Alston & Bird LLP

Headquarters	One Atlantic Center Atlanta, Georgia, US
No. of offices	13
No. of attorneys	935 [1]
No. of employees	1,627
Major practice areas	Corporate law, litigation, intellectual property, tax law
Key people	Richard R. Hays (Chairman and Managing Partner)
Revenue	$1.33 billion (2025) [1]
Profit per equity partner	$4,086,000 (2025) [1]
Date founded	1893;132 years ago (1893)
Company type	LLP
Website	alston.com

Alston & Bird LLP is an American multinational law firm with over 900 lawyers in 13 offices ^[2] throughout the United States, Europe, the UK, ^[3] and Asia. The firm provides legal services to both domestic and international clients who conduct business worldwide. ^[4] Alston & Bird has advised companies including Amazon.com, The Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft, Bank of America, Starbucks, Toyota, Dell, UPS, and Nokia. Since 2000, Fortune has ranked the firm in the 100 Best Companies to Work For list. ^[5] The firm's core practices include intellectual property, complex litigation, corporate and tax, with national industry focusing on energy and sustainability, health care, financial services, and public policy. ^[6]

History

Through the roots of the Alston, Miller & Gaines’ predecessor firms, the merger with Jones, Bird and Howell formed Alston & Bird on December 1, 1982. ^[7] Expansion beyond Georgia began with the establishment of an office in Washington, D.C., followed by the 1997 merger with intellectual property-focused Bell Seltzer Park & Gibson (Charlotte and Raleigh), Walter, Conston, Alexander & Green in 2001 (New York), and Crews, Shepherd & McCarty LLP in 2007 (Dallas). ^[7]

In August 2008, the firm opened a Silicon Valley office with attorneys from the national firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. ^[8] The next month, Alston & Bird acquired Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava and MacCuish LLP (which had a total of ~100 lawyers), launching in Los Angeles and Ventura County to reach nine offices nationwide. ^[9] In March 2017, the firm opened its San Francisco office. ^[10] In September 2019, the firm opened their London office. ^[3]

Today, the firm is headquartered in Midtown Atlanta in One Atlantic Center. ^[11]

In February 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Deputy Director, Brian Johnson, left the agency to become a partner at Alston & Bird LLP. ^[12]

Offices

The firm has offices in Atlanta, Brussels, Century City, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Raleigh, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C.. ^[2]

Compensation

In June 2016, Alston & Bird announced that it would raise attorney salaries to match market rates set earlier that month by the New York–based law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. ^[13] Firm bonuses range from $15,000 to $100,000, depending on service years and merit-based reviews. ^[14]

Political contributions

According to OpenSecrets, Alston & Bird was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.26 million, 53% to Democrats. ^[15] Since 1990, Alston & Bird contributed $5.1 million to federal campaigns. ^[16]

The New York Times reported that a $1 million contribution was made through Alston & Bird to Project Veritas in 2019. ^[17]

Notable cases

• Counsel to German media group Bertelsmann AG (a longtime client of legacy firm Walter, Conston) with Clifford Chance and Slaughter & May as UK co-counsel in Bertelsmann's $2.74 billion acquisition of Zomba Music Group in 2002. ^[18]
• Represented Cingular Wireless in its purchase of 34 wireless licenses from NextWave Media in 2003. ^[19]
• Advised Regions Financial Corporation alongside Sullivan & Cromwell in its purchase of Union Planters Corporation in 2004, a transaction valued at $5.8 billion. ^[20]
• Advised longstanding client IndyMac, its executives and directors during the FBI investigation into the California bank's collapse in 2008. Alston also advised the bank on the transfer of its assets to government control under the auspices of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. ^[21]
• Represented Toyota in the economic loss class actions arising from the 2009–2010 Toyota vehicle recalls. ^[22]

Notable attorneys

• Keith R. Blackwell, former justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals ^[23]
• Jody Hunt, former assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division from 2018 to 2020, and chief of staff to the United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018 ^[24]
• B.J. Pak, former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia from 2017 to 2021 and member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017 ^[25]

Notable alumni

• Philip H. Alston, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Australia and to Nauru, confidant of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and founder of Alston & Bird ^{[26] [27]}
• Chaz Beasley, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
• Sean Bedford, former American football center for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
• Michael Lawrence Brown, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• Craig Carpenito, current United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey
• Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General of Georgia
• Tom Daschle, United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. ^[28]
• Bob Dole, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate from Kansas ^[29]
• Daisy Hurst Floyd, former dean of Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University
• Keith Gottfried, 19th General Counsel for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Bobby Jones, winner of the 1930 Grand Slam, founder of the Masters Tournament and Augusta National Golf Club, ^[30] former Alston & Bird partner, as well as founding partner of one of Alston & Bird's predecessor firms (Jones, Bird, and Howell); the firm continues to represent the Bobby Jones brand and monitors trademark issues for the family ^[31]
• Blanche Lincoln, former U.S. Senator from Arkansas
• Karol Mason, Assistant Attorney General under the Obama administration
• Robert McCallum Jr., former Associate Attorney General of the United States and former United States Deputy Attorney General
• Earl Pomeroy, former U.S. Representative for North Dakota's at-large congressional district
• Tom Scully, former senior official in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush ^{[32] [33]}
• Leah Ward Sears, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia
• Francis Shackelford, former General Counsel of the Army
• Frank E. Sheeder III, former President of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)
• Peter Swire, Professor of Law at Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Anne Tompkins, former United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
• Thomas Walker, former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina
• Joe Whitley, the first General Counsel for the United States Department of Homeland Security
• Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law

See also

• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)
• White shoe firms
• The Magic Circle
• List of law firms

References

1. "Alston & Bird". law.com. ALM Global, LLC . Retrieved 22 October 2025.
2. "Our Offices". alston.com. Alston & Bird. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
3. Hobbs, Meredith. "Alston Launches London Office, Boosting Payments, Finance Practices". Law.com. ALM Media Properties, LLC. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
4. "Alston & Bird LLP | Member firm for USA, Georgia". LexMundi. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
5. "100 Best Companies to Work For 2018". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
6. "Alston & Bird LLP". Great Place to Work. Great Place to Work Institute. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
7. "Alston & Bird LLP". U.S. News & World Report. Law Firms. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
8. Slater, Dan (31 July 2008). "Akin to Shutter Offices in Taipei, Silicon Valley; Lawyers to Alston & Bird". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
9. King, Jonatha (1 August 2008). "Weston Benshoof Law Firm Merges With Atlanta Law Firm". Noozhawk. Malamute Ventures LLC. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
10. Wolfe, Eli (23 March 2017). "Daily Journal Staff Writer". Esquire Legal Search. Esquire Inc. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
11. "Alston & Bird LLP". Chambers and Partners. Chambers & Partners. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
12. "CFPB's No. 2 to leave agency for law firm". American Banker. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
13. Castro-Pagan, Carmen (15 August 2016). "After the $180K Salary Bump, What About Benefits in Big Law?". Bloomberg Law. he Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
14. "Alston & Bird". glassdoor. Glassdoor, Inc. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
15. "Lawyers & Lobbyists: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups". OpenSecrets .
16. "Organizations: Alston & Bird". OpenSecrets.org. OpenSecrets.
17. Mazzetti, Mark; Goldman, Adam (7 March 2020). "Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
18. "Executive Profile". Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
19. "PURCHASE AGREEMENT Between NEXTWAVE TELECOM INC., NEXTWAVE PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS INC., NEXTWAVE PARTNERS INC., NEXTWAVE POWER PARTNERS INC. and CINGULAR WIRELESS LLC". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
20. "Schedule 14A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. g86948r4defm14a.txt: SEC. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
21. "IndyMac Bank Announces Agreement to Acquire Financial Freedom Holdings Inc.; The Recognized Industry Leader in the Reverse Mortgage Market". BusinessWire. Business Wire, Inc. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
22. Amanda Bronstad, "Judge Agrees to Expand Plaintiffs Committees in Toyota MDL," The National Law Journal, 17 May 2010.
23. "Keith R. Blackwell".
24. "Joseph H. Hunt". Archived from the original on 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
25. "Byung J. "BJay" Pak".
26. "Philip Henry Alston Jr. (1911-1988)". U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
27. Panter, Lona (1 September 2016). "UGA law school names inaugural Philip H. Alston, Jr. Distinguished Law Fellows". UGA Today. University of Georgia . Retrieved 29 June 2022.
28. Lee, Christopher (2005-03-14). "Daschle Moving to K Street". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-02-16.
29. Seelye, Katharine Q. (5 December 2021). "Bob Dole, Old Soldier and Stalwart of the Senate, Dies at 98". The New York Times . Retrieved 29 June 2022.
30. "Bobby Jones' Law Partner Reminisces About Golf Great | Law.com". Law.com. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
31. "HMX Group To Manufacture And Sell Bobby Jones Golf Equipment Designed By Jesse Ortiz - The Golf Wire". The Golf Wire. 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
32. Smith Named Acting Administrator At Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
33. "Scully joins Washington law firm Alston and Bird". Modern Healthcare . December 18, 2003.

External links

• Official website