Goodwin Procter LLP

Goodwin Procter traces its origins to Boston in 1912, when Robert Eliot Goodwin and Joseph Osborne Procter Jr. decided to establish a practice together. The firm's current identity centers on investors, entrepreneurs, and businesses in life sciences, technology, private equity, real estate, and financial services. Those sectors provide a more specific picture of its client base than the label of a general corporate firm.

The firm's own description emphasizes the connections among these industries. An innovative company may seek investment from a private equity or venture investor, while a real estate business may depend on capital markets and financial institutions. Goodwin organizes its account of the practice around those overlapping commercial relationships.

For students, this industry orientation is a useful starting point for researching individual teams. The legal work follows both operating businesses and the capital behind them, making the client's stage of development and source of investment important parts of understanding a particular practice.