Winston & Strawn begins new office build-out in popular Miami market

Signage is seen outside of the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) – Winston & Strawn said Thursday it has added two corporate partners in Miami, a current hot spot for large law firms as attorneys and clients migrate to South Florida.

McDermott Will & Emery partner Craig Rasile and Jones Day partner Nicholas Rodríguez join the firm in its recently opened Miami office, which it launched in May with six partners from rival firms.

The 900-lawyer firm is one of several big law firms, including King & Spalding and Kirkland & Ellis, to open a Miami office in 2022. Sidley Austin, which doesn’t list a Miami office on its website, has also hired lawyers there in recent months. Quinn Emanuel expanded to the city last year.

Finance and technology companies and executives have relocated to the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, with weather, lower taxes and affordable space as incentives. The flexibility permitted by remote work has also made it possible for more lawyers to move to Florida for personal reasons.

Rasile, from McDermott, joins Winston & Strawn’s corporate restructuring practice, the firm said. Jones Day’s Rodríguez adds to the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice.

Winston & Strawn’s Miami office managing partner, Enrique Martin, also recently made the move from Jones Day to help launch the new outpost.

Martin said in a Tuesday statement that Miami is a “magnet for capital formation, innovation, and business growth,” creating demand for transactional lawyers.

Spokespeople for McDermott and Jones Day didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the partners’ departures.

Read more:

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