Jenner & Block Taps First Woman DC Leader as it Grows Office

Jenner & Block has named litigator Lindsay Harrison as head of the Washington office as the firm deepens its investments in the nation’s capital.

Harrison, co-chair of the firm’s real estate and hospitality group, succeeds Sam Feder in the role, the firm said Wednesday. The move makes her the first woman to lead the roughly 100-lawyer office in the firm’s history.

Jenner since 2022 has added 24 lateral attorneys in Washington, including six partners, according to data from Leopard Solutions. “A lot of work is getting generated” from the Washington area, Harrison said in an interview.

Lindsay Harrison

Jenner is boosting the Washington office, its largest outside of the Chicago headquarters, after the firm overall collected about $465 million in revenue in 2021, ranking it just inside the 100 largest law operations in the US, according to the American Lawyer.

Attorneys that have recently joined the DC office include former Skadden Arps energy partner John Estes; former King & Spalding international arbitration partner Kenneth Beale; and Emily Loeb, who rejoined Jenner as its congressional investigations head after a stint at the Department of Justice.

Harrison plans to grow the office’s litigation and regulatory practices, spotlighting areas such as antitrust and government investigations, she said.

“We’re not trying to be all things to all people,” Harrison said. “We’re really trying to focus on the areas that we do really, really well.”

‘Whole Self’

A 2003 Harvard Law School graduate, Harrison first joined the firm as a summer associate in 2001 and has spent her entire career there, save for two separate federal clerkships. She has built a practice across areas including hospitality, education and appellate litigation.

Harrison, who is openly gay, recalled as a student asking every law firm she met with during on-campus interviews whether they had openly gay partners. While one firm representative replied that they were “more of an old school” shop, Jenner touted its LGBTQ members, she said.

“It was a feature for them,” Harrison said. “At Jenner, you could be your whole self.”

As office leader she’ll emphasize diversity and inclusion, as her predecessor did, she said. Nearly 60% of the attorneys in the office are from underrepresented groups, and a majority in the last three Washington partner classes are diverse, according to the firm.

Feder “has expanded the DC office through strategic recruitment of laterals and ensured our culture thrived throughout the pandemic,” co-Managing Partners Katya Jestin and Randy Mehrberg said in a joint statement. He will continue his communications practice with the firm.