Chicago
The Chicago office of Latham & Watkins opened in 1982 and since that time has developed a sophisticated practice comprised of attorneys specializing in all types of complex business issues working across practice areas and with the capabilities of meeting the needs of some of the largest Midwestern, US and global organizations. Not only does the Chicago office boast strong practice groups across the board but the Chicago Tax Department and Transactional Tax Practice are leaders in the tax aspects of renewable energy projects exhibited by their representation of major developers and investors and their involvement in wind farms, biomass and geothermal plants and solar projects.
Practice Areas
The office serves a diverse client base including Fortune 500 corporations, middle market companies, privately held entities and financial institutions. All five of the firm's departments are represented among our Chicago attorneys.
On the transactional side, the Corporate Department offers sophisticated capital markets, merger and acquisitions, corporate governance, private equity and technology transactions practices. The Finance Department includes practice groups involved in banking, structured finance, insolvency/restructuring, project finance and real estate transactions.
Our Litigation team spans a multitude of substantive fields including intellectual property, professional liability, employment, insurance coverage, products liability and mass torts, corporate investigations, white collar crime and other large commercial litigations, while the Environment, Land & Resources team focuses on litigation as well as environmental counseling.
The Chicago Tax Department offers a full range of tax controversy, counseling, benefits and compensation work and supports our transactional practice. We regularly work with developers and investors of renewable energy projects (including wind farms, biomass and geothermal plants and solar projects), and are well versed in the significant tax benefits for the investors.
Community Ties
The Chicago office's dedication to pro bono work is a source of pride and reflects a fundamental part of Latham & Watkins' culture. Locally, our attorneys provide pro bono legal support in a number of areas including defense of civil rights and criminal cases, real estate closings for first time homebuyers, representing start-ups in drafting organizational documents and negotiating leases and has helped clients in obtaining 501(c)3 not-for-profit status.
Since early 2007, our attorneys, summer associates, paralegals and professional staff have assisted victims of domestic violence as part of the Latham & Watkins Domestic Violence Clinic. We also work with Cool Globes, a not for profit that brings together corporate, government, nonprofit and community organizations to raise awareness about global climate change through the use of large, decorated globes that illustrate potential solutions to the problem.
In addition, Chicago office attorneys are involved in counseling numerous legal permanent residents seeking to become naturalized citizens through New Americans Initiative (NAI) workshops. Latham's Chicago office has secured political asylum for refugees from Africa and the Middle East who had been targeted for various reasons, including political leadership and affiliation, fear of persecution, or police brutality, to name a few.