Winston & Strawn litigation leader takes 9-partner team to rival law firm King & Spalding

By Sara Merken

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Law firm King & Spalding said on Tuesday that it has hired nine litigation partners from rival Winston & Strawn, marking the latest significant group defection between large firms in recent weeks.

Trial lawyer Tom Melsheimer, who was managing partner of Winston’s Dallas office and co-chair of its global litigation department, leads the group joining King & Spalding in Dallas, Charlotte and Washington, D.C. The team focuses on commercial and intellectual property litigation.

Melsheimer’s clients have included oilfield service company U.S. Well Services, medical technology company Alphatec, billionaire Mark Cuban and Kent Thiry, the former CEO of dialysis provider DaVita, according to his King & Spalding biography. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Winston, founded in Chicago, is set to merge in May with Taylor Wessing’s UK business, creating a firm with more than 1,400 lawyers. Winston chairman Steve D’Amore in a statement thanked the departing lawyers for their contributions.

Several other large groups of lawyers have jumped firms since the beginning of the year, including a team of 20 partners that moved from McDermott Will & Schulte to Dechert late last month. Lateral hiring for the 200 highest-grossing U.S. law firms increased 8.8% year-over-year in 2025, rebounding after two years of lower levels, according to data from SurePoint Legal Insights, which tracks law firm hiring.

Melsheimer will head up King & Spalding’s global trial team and lead its Dallas office, joined there by former Winston partners Steven Stodghill, Natalie Arbaugh, Rex Mann, Michael Bittner, Ahtoosa Dale and Chad Walker. Danielle Williams, who led Winston's Charlotte office and co-chaired its IP practice, and Washington-based partner Brian Ferguson are also part of the group.

Atlanta-founded King & Spalding, which has more than 1,300 lawyers globally, has hired a string of other partners in the past month. Last week, five healthcare partners joined the firm from Burr & Forman.

(Reporting by Sara Merken in New York)