Jenner & Block is pleased to announce that Partner Lindsay Harrison has been named office managing partner of the Washington, DC office. Lindsay’s appointment follows the tenure of Partner Sam Feder, who served in the position for seven years.
“Under Sam’s leadership, Jenner & Block has grown and solidified our reputation in Washington as a premier firm uniquely positioned to guide clients through high-stakes matters at the intersection of law, business, and policy. He has expanded the DC office through strategic recruitment of laterals and ensured our culture thrived throughout the pandemic,” said Co-Managing Partners Katya Jestin and Randy Mehrberg. “Lindsay has spent her career at Jenner & Block and represents the very best of the firm. She is a talented leader and experienced litigator, who has earned the deep respect of clients and colleagues for her vision and judgment. We are thrilled that Lindsay will be leading this next chapter of growth for our Washington, DC, office.”
Lindsay first joined Jenner & Block as a summer associate in 2001 and returned to the firm as an associate following each of her clerkships, most recently in 2007. A skilled litigator, her first argument in any court resulted in a victory before the US Supreme Court. Over the past 16 years she has built a reputation as a tireless champion for her clients, a trusted leader, and a valued mentor to the next generation of Jenner & Block lawyers.
Lindsay serves as Co-Chair of Jenner & Block’s Real Estate and Hospitality Practice and is a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice, Education Practice, and Litigation Department. In recent years, Lindsay has won an arbitration for client Hyatt Hotels concerning a joint venture dispute and a preliminary injunction for client Marriott International regarding the Wardman Park Hotel. She also led the Jenner & Block team that won a major victory preserving the DACA program in the US Supreme Court after the government in 2017 attempted to rescind the program. Currently, she is defending a hotel management company in several litigation matters in Napa County, California. She is also representing Amtrak in litigation to acquire the leasehold interest in Washington, DC’s Union Station. And she is representing university clients, including Princeton and Harvard, in a variety of litigation matters.
When the Dobbs decision came down overturning Roe v. Wade, Lindsay and other members of the post-Dobbs task force mobilized to help clients across industries navigate the new reproductive rights landscape. Lindsay was tapped to represent several obstetricians seeking to provide evidentiary support to the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of Idaho’s abortion ban.
Lindsay is a member of the firm’s Partner Evaluation and Compensation Committee and serves on the Associate Development and Evaluation Committee. She will maintain these positions and her full-time litigation practice while serving as office managing partner.
“To skillfully practice law in Washington, you need to be highly attuned to the public and private interests in any given dispute,” said Lindsay. “Jenner & Block’s DC office blends deep legal, business, and policy experience to bring these insights to bear for clients. Sam led our office brilliantly as we helped clients navigate some of the greatest challenges of our time, from COVID-19 to the post-Dobbs world. I’m proud to continue Sam’s tremendous leadership of the DC office, a place that has been my professional home for essentially my entire career, and I look forward to building upon his success.”
A former general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, Sam joined Jenner & Block in 2008 as Co-Chair of the Communications, Internet, and Technology Practice. He currently serves as a member of the Policy Committee.
Under Sam’s leadership, the DC office has deepened its commitment to the next generation of lawyers. The office is deeply invested in pipeline programs, including SEO Law, and the Mansfield Diversity initiative. Fifty-eight percent of the lawyers in the office are diverse, and the 2022 summer class in DC was 92% diverse. The last three new partners classes have been more than 60% diverse. “As an LGBTQ lawyer, one of the reasons I was initially attracted to Jenner was because it was one of the few law firms where openly LGBTQ lawyers were thriving at the time—and diversity, equity, and inclusion remains intrinsic to Jenner culture.” Lindsay said. “What has kept me here are the exceptional lawyers and professional staff, the cutting edge work we do for our clients, and the firm’s deep commitment to applying our talents to create a brighter future.” The firm also maintains a steadfast commitment to The Appellate Project, of which Lindsay serves on the development committee and for which others in the office serve as mentors.
Sam’s strategic work includes attracting top talent from government and private practice. Under his leadership the office built the nation’s premier Native American Law Practice, which is led by and primarily composed of enrolled members and descendants of federally recognized tribes. In just over two years, the team, alongside the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice, has secured a landmark victory before the US Supreme Court in McGirt, and is awaiting a decision in Brackeen. The Election Law & Redistricting Practice has also expanded and is representing the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters before the Court in what a former federal circuit judge warned is “the most important case for American democracy in the almost two and a half centuries since America’s founding.”
In the last 18 months alone, the DC office has attracted three former FTC officials, the solicitor general of Virginia, an investigative counsel from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, the deputy general counsel of the CIA, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the US Department of Justice, and several others. The office also attracted a FERC trailblazer and a leading International Arbitration lawyer, both coming from other AmLaw 100 firms.
“It has been a pleasure to lead our DC office, and I am incredibly proud of all we have achieved over the past seven years. As the office has grown amid opportunities and challenges, I am proud to have set the office on a strong trajectory while maintaining the close-knit culture that Jenner is known for. I will continue to be actively involved in the success of the DC office, particularly in the Communications, Internet, and Technology space as it continues to face wide-ranging litigation, regulatory proceedings, and agency enforcement actions,” said Sam. “I am grateful to have Lindsay as a colleague, and a friend, and am thrilled that she is stepping in to lead our team.”
