McDermott Will & Emery is an international law firm with a diversified business practice.

They were initially focused as a tax law firm, and a corporate department was established in 1941 when Howard A.

As the century progressed, the firm added capabilities across the legal spectrum, eventually opening eight more offices.

Over the ensuing twenty years, the firm grew; in 2004, McDermott numbered over one thousand lawyers.

[4][non-primary source needed] In November 2023, amid a wave of antisemitic incidents 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.