Jenner & Block was one of the first national law firms to establish a Washington practice specifically focused on appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court. A number of lawyers in the Washington office have served as clerks to the US Supreme Court.[8][9] This office was once headed by Bruce Ennis, Jr., who argued more than a dozen cases before the Supreme Court, including three cases arising under different provisions of the same law, the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996. The appellate practice was once led by Paul M. Smith. [10]Donald Verrilli Jr., who succeeded Elena Kagan as U.S. solicitor general during the Obama administration, is a former member of the practice.[11]
Since its founding, the firm has had 10 names. The name of the firm was changed to Raymond Mayer Jenner & Block in 1964 after Samuel W. Block became a name partner. In 1969, it was shortened to its present form.[citation needed]
Reportedly motivated by personal grievances;[14][15] actions by the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to punish law firms that offered services to the president's perceived political opponents[16] included, on March 25, 2025, President Trump signing an executive order taking action against Jenner & Block.[17][18] Trump criticized the firm's employment of Andrew Weissmann, who was involved in the Mueller special counsel investigation.[17] On March 28, 2025, the firm sued to stop the executive order,[16] standing out, as some of the other prominent law firms targeted by Trump surrendered to him rather than resist his aggressive campaigns against them.[16] The following day, two district court judges temporarily blocked parts of the executive orders targeting both Jenner & Block and law firm WilmerHale.[19]
Prominent legal work
The firm has a history of litigating and representation in prominent cases, including several argued before the US Supreme Court. The firm's 1985 antitrust lawsuit of AT&T, on behalf of MCI, sowed the seeds for the eventual break-up of telecommunications monopoly in the 1980s.[20]
According to annual surveys by The American Lawyer, in 2014 and 2015, Jenner & Block was the leading law firm for per-attorney hours devoted to pro bono work in the US.[24] From 2008 to 2015, it was the leader for five of those seven years.[25]
Recent pro bono victories include the acquittal of Jezon Young and the 2012 acquittal of Calvin Marshall who had been charged with murder.[26]
Notable cases
Maple Flooring Manufacturers' Association v. US: The firm had an early US Supreme Court victory in an antitrust case that helped establish its appellate credentials. The firm represented the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association, a trade association based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The US government charged that the group's activities — such as sharing weekly statistics showing charges that had been made for various grades of lumber during the previous week — violated the Sherman Act. The firm's principal litigator at the time, Edward Johnston, argued that the Association shared permissible economic information. In June 1925, the Court agreed.
Sam Insull cases: In the 1930s, former chief justice of the Illinois Supreme CourtFloyd Thompson successfully defended Chicago utility czar Samuel Insull in three separate federal and state trials related to the collapse of his empire after the Great Depression.
Witherspoon v. Illinois: The firm represented William Witherspoon, who had been sentenced to death for the shooting death of a police officer, on a pro bono basis. In 1968, the US Supreme Court ruled that a state statute providing the state unlimited challenge for cause of jurors who might have any objection to the death penalty gave too much bias in favor of the prosecution. The Court reasoned: "A jury that must choose between life imprisonment and capital punishment can do little more — and must do nothing less — than express the conscience of the community on the ultimate question of life or death. Yet, in a nation less than half of whose people believe in the death penalty, a jury composed exclusively of such people cannot speak for the community."[27] The Court added: "To execute this death sentence would deprive [Witherspoon] of his life without the due process of the law."[27] As a result of the Witherspoon decision, more than 350 inmates on death row around the nation had their death sentences lifted.[28]
Lawrence v. Texas: A significant case to ensure civil rights for the gay, lesbian and transgender community. In 2003, working with the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the firm challenged Texas' anti-sodomy statute. The US Supreme Court struck down the statute, effectively invalidating anti-sodomy laws throughout the nation.[29] Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that two gay men arrested after police walked in on them having sex "are entitled to respect for their private lives. The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime."[29]
Lehman Brothers bankruptcy: After Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008—the largest bankruptcy in US history—the court hired Jenner & Block's Chairman Anton Valukas to examine Lehman's collapse. Some commentators pointed to the bankruptcy as a factor contributing to the 2008 financial crisis.[30][31] In March 2010, Valukas issued his 2,200-page report on the matter.[32]
General Motors bankruptcy: In the late 2000s, General Motors had what The American Lawyer called a "near-death" experience as it filed for bankruptcy. In 2010, the $23 billion offering by GM set the record as the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history. Jenner & Block represented GM as it went through bankruptcy and the subsequent IPO.[33][34][35]
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association: The firm represented the Entertainment Merchants Association in a battle against a California law that restricted the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. In 2011, the US Supreme Court agreed with the firm's argument that the law violated the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech and expression. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that depictions of violence have never been subject to government regulation.[36]
American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, Inc.: The firm represented a group of broadcasting company clients in a fight against Aereo, Inc., a company that retransmitted copyrighted television programming without broadcaster authorization for a fee.[37] In June 2014, the US Supreme Court agreed with the firm's argument that Aereo violated copyright law. Aereo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2014.[37]
Recognition
The firm has won many awards for its work.[22] In 2012 and 2013, it was listed as one of the 20 most elite law firms by The American Lawyer, with inclusion on the magazine's A-List for revenue generation, pro-bono commitment, associate satisfaction and diversity representation.[38] In 2012 and 2014, the firm was awarded the Chambers USA "Award for Excellence" as the top law firm for media and entertainment litigation.[39]
In 2015, The National Law Journal named Jenner & Block to its "Appellate Hot List," a list of 20 national firms "with outstanding achievements before the US Supreme Court, federal circuit courts and state courts of last resort."[40] That marked the seventh consecutive year that the firm was so ranked.[41] The firm was also named to The National Law Journal's 2015 "IP Hot List."[42] Also in 2015, Law360 named the firm's Bankruptcy, Workout and Corporate Reorganization Practice a "Bankruptcy Group of the Year."[43]
In 2015, Jenner & Block was ranked first among all US law firms in the volume of its pro bono work[2] and has ranked first in pro bono work in five of the past seven years, according to The American Lawyer annual rankings.[44][45]
The firm was listed as #63 among the Vault Law 100 in 2025.[46]
Offices
Jenner & Block is headquartered in downtown Chicago. In 1982, the firm opened an office in Washington.[47] In 2005, a New York City office was launched[48] followed by the opening of a Los Angeles office in 2009. In April 2015, the firm opened a London office, its first outside the U.S.[49]
↑ Scarcella, Mike (March 26, 2025). "Why target these law firms? For Trump, it's personal". Reuters. Washington, D.C. Retrieved March 27, 2025. President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting elite U.S. law firms have shared a common theme: his perceived grievance that an attorney linked to the firm has personally done him wrong.
↑ Barrett, Devlin (March 25, 2025). "Trump's Old Grudge Fuels Swipe at a New Law Firm". The New York Times. Washington, D.C. Retrieved March 27, 2025. Mr. Trump's accusations against the firm range from the personal to the political, claiming that Jenner & Block rehired Mr. Weissmann after he worked on the Mueller investigation, which Mr. Trump called 'entirely unjustified.'
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