Winston Taylor

Winston Taylor is a transatlantic law firm created in 2026 by the merger of US firm Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing's UK-led business.

The combination brought together more than 1,400 lawyers across 20 offices spanning the US, UK, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, creating a firm with estimated annual revenue of around $1.75 billion.

The merger included Taylor Wessing's UK, Ireland, Middle East, Netherlands and Belgium businesses, which left the firm's long-standing Swiss verein to join Winston Taylor as a fully integrated partnership. The remaining Taylor Wessing firms continue to operate independently within the Taylor Wessing verein while maintaining cooperation and referral arrangements with Winston Taylor.

The firm's creation marked a significant strategic move for both sides. For Winston & Strawn, it delivered the substantial UK platform the Chicago-headquartered firm had sought for years. For Taylor Wessing, it accelerated its ambitions in the US market while building a fully integrated transatlantic offering across litigation, corporate, private equity, intellectual property and private wealth.

Taylor Wessing itself was one of Europe's best-known international law firms. It was established in 2002 through the merger of the UK's Taylor Joynson Garrett and Germany's Wessing & Berenberg-Gossler. Taylor Joynson Garrett traced its roots back to 1782, while Wessing & Berenberg-Gossler was founded in 1873, giving the firm a history spanning more than two centuries.

Before the merger, Taylor Wessing operated a network of 26 offices across 19 jurisdictions, with particularly deep roots in continental Europe. In Germany alone, it had offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich, while also maintaining business development offices in Silicon Valley and New York.

The firm built a strong reputation in technology, media and communications, acting for many of the world's largest brands alongside fast-growing technology companies and startups. It also developed leading practices in life sciences - particularly patent litigation and regulatory work - and private wealth, where it advised ultra-high-net-worth individuals on international tax, succession planning and wealth structuring.

Those sector strengths formed much of the strategic rationale behind the Winston Taylor merger. The combined firm has positioned itself as a leading transatlantic adviser to technology, life sciences and private capital clients, pairing Taylor Wessing's UK and European intellectual property platform with Winston & Strawn's US litigation and transactional capabilities.

The creation of Winston Taylor represents one of the most significant UK-US law firm mergers of recent years, following combinations including A&O Shearman, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and Ashurst's merger with Perkins Coie. It also marked the end of Taylor Wessing UK's membership of the firm's Swiss verein structure and the beginning of a new fully integrated transatlantic partnership.