Alston & Bird

Through the roots of the Alston, Miller & Gaines’ predecessor firms, the merger with Jones, Bird and Howell formed Alston & Bird on December 1, 1982.[8] A founding partner of Jones, Bird, and Howell was Bobby Jones, the celebrated amateur golfer and Atlanta icon.[9] 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).[8]

In August 2008, the firm opened a Silicon Valley office with attorneys from the national firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.[10] The next month, Alston & Bird acquired the 100-lawyer strong Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava and MacCuish LLP, launching in Los Angeles and Ventura County to reach nine offices nationwide.[11] Legal publications report that the Atlanta-based firm is seeking to launch additional overseas offices in London and Germany.[12] Legacy firm Walter Conston operated a Munich liaison office before it was acquired by Alston & Bird.[13]

Today, the firm is headquartered in Midtown Atlanta in One Atlantic Center.[14]

Legendary golfer Bobby Jones, winner of the Grand Slam in 1930 and founder of the Augusta National Golf Club, is a former Alston & Bird partner. The firm continues to represent the Bobby Jones brand and monitors trademark issues for the family.[15] Former managing partner Benjamin F. Johnson III was named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle's list of the 100 Most Influential People in Atlanta.[16] Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has been a Special Counsel at the firm's Washington, D.C., office since 2003.[17] Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle is a former partner of the firm.[18]

In February 2020, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Deputy Director Brian Johnson left the agency to become a partner at Alston & Bird LLP.[19]

The firm has offices in Atlanta, New York City, Washington, D.C., Brussels, Charlotte, Raleigh, Dallas, Fort Worth, London, Los Angeles, Beijing, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley.[20]

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.[21] Firm bonuses range from $15,000 to $100,000, depending on year and merit-based reviews.[22] In July 2018, the firm announced that it would again raise attorney salaries as follows:

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 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.[23] By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated $2.56 million, 66% to Democrats,[23] while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans.[24] Since 1990, Alston & Bird contributed $5.1 million to federal campaigns.[25]

The New York Times reported that a $1 million contribution was made through Alston & Bird to Project Veritas in 2019.[26]

• 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.[27]
• Represented Cingular Wireless in its purchase of 34 wireless licenses from NextWave Media in 2003.[28]
• Advised Regions Financial Corporation alongside Sullivan & Cromwell in its purchase of Union Planters Corporation in 2004, a transaction valued at $5.8 billion.[29]
• Advised longstanding client IndyMac, its executives and directors 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.[30]
• Represented Toyota in the economic loss class actions arising from the 2009–2010 Toyota vehicle recalls.[31]

• 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, former United States senator
• Bob Dole, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas
• 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, American amateur golfer and co-founder of the Masters Tournament
• 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
• 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

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