The story
Chicago lawyers Edward H. McDermott and William M. Emery founded the firm in 1934. They were initially focused as a tax law firm, and a corporate department was established in 1941 when Howard A. Will joined the firm. As the century progressed, the firm added capabilities across the legal spectrum, eventually opening eight more offices. By 1984, the firm had amassed one hundred fifty lawyers. Over the ensuing twenty years, the firm grew; in 2004, McDermott numbered over one thousand lawyers.
In November 2023, amid a wave of protests calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza War at elite U.S. law schools, McDermott Will & Emery was among a group of major law firms that sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences:We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses.On August 1, 2025, the firm merged with Schulte Roth & Zabel, forming a new firm under the name McDermott Will & Schulte.
In November 2025, McDermott Will & Schulte embarked on assessing private equity investment into the firm's operations, by reshaping its practice with a management service organization (MSO).
From Wikipedia’s article on McDermott Will & Schulte, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4