What Winthrop & Weinstine does

Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. is a Minneapolis-headquartered business law firm founded around 1979-1980 operating as a Minnesota professional association. The firm fields more than 185 attorneys organized across eleven core practice areas — Banking & Finance, Corporate & Transactions, Employment, Energy, Health Law, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Real Estate Development & Finance, Regulatory & Government Relations, Tax, and Trusts & Estates — serving more than 20 industries. Its client base spans enterprise and mid-market segments, including large national and regional banks, broker dealers, hedge funds, private equity funds, multi-unit franchise operators (Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Fazoli's, Hardee's), real estate developers and tax credit syndicators, renewable energy developers, healthcare providers, and corporate borrowers.

The firm delivers professional services rather than technology products. Its core "technology" is the bench of attorneys themselves, augmented by a thought-leadership platform (Bold Perspectives), an active CLE and events calendar (including the Annual Affordable Housing Summit and Hennepin County Civil Bench Roundtable), and membership in the Law Firm Alliance — an international network providing access to 2,800+ attorneys across 920+ practice areas. Notable technical competencies include federal and state tax credit financing and syndication (affordable housing, historic preservation, transferrable energy tax credits), bank regulatory and enforcement defense, energy and environmental regulatory practice, and multi-unit franchise M&A and financing (with disclosed matters including a $110M senior secured debt financing for a Taco Bell franchisee, a $90M senior secured debt financing for a Pizza Hut franchisee, and 1,800+ restaurant units across $1.4B in aggregate transaction value).

Winthrop & Weinstine operates a sales-led professional services GTM, billing clients through traditional hourly, fixed-fee, and alternative fee arrangements. Business development is driven by attorney-led client relationships, industry events, thought-leadership publishing, and client referrals. The firm maintains eight meeting office locations across Minnesota (Minneapolis HQ, St. Paul, St. Cloud), Texas (Dallas), Michigan (Lansing), North Dakota (Fargo), Montana (Missoula), and Maryland (Pikesville), enabling national representation. It is owned by its shareholder attorneys with no parent company, private equity sponsor, or public listing.

Name

Winthrop & Weinstine

Legal name

Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.

Website

https://winthrop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Winthrop & Weinstine is a Minneapolis-based business law firm with 185+ attorneys across 75+ practice areas and 20+ industries, serving enterprise and mid-market clients in banking, energy, real estate, healthcare, franchise, and corporate transactions nationally from a Minnesota platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) & Securities Law (BPAHAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Estate M&A / Joint Venture Advisory (Platform Deals, Partnerships) (BPAJANAF), Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

Keywords

• Business legal services
• Commercial litigation
• Banking finance law
• Corporate transactions law
• Real estate legal services

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Fees: Winthrop & Weinstine generates revenue through professional legal services provided to clients. As a law firm, they bill clients for legal representation, counsel, and related services. Fee structures typically include hourly billing, fixed fees for specific services, and potentially contingency or alternative fee arrangements depending on practice area.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Winthrop & Weinstine is a Minneapolis-based business law firm providing legal counsel through 11 primary practice areas spanning Banking & Finance, Corporate & Transactions, Employment, Energy, Health Law, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Real Estate Development & Finance, Regulatory & Government Relations, Tax, and Trusts & Estates. The firm serves corporate and institutional clients across more than 20 industries, with particular depth in financial services, real estate development, energy, franchise operations, healthcare, and private equity transactions.

Product overview

Winthrop & Weinstine is a business law firm offering legal services organized into practice areas rather than a unified software product. The firm's service portfolio includes Banking & Finance, Corporate & Transactions, Employment, Energy, Health Law, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Real Estate Development & Finance, Regulatory & Government Relations, Tax, and Trusts & Estates. These practice areas function as distinct service lines that attorneys specialize in, often collaborating across disciplines to serve clients' comprehensive legal needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Banking & Finance Legal services covering bank regulatory compliance, commercial lending, community banking, and creditors' remedies including bankruptcy and work-out matters for financial institutions such as bank holding companies, federal savings banks, national banking associations, state banking institutions, trust companies, insurance companies, broker dealers, hedge funds, and private equity funds.
• Corporate & Transactions Business law services including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities, franchise transactions, and tax planning for companies, investment funds, and private equity firms at all stages of growth.
• Employment Employment law services covering employee benefits, employment counseling, executive transition counseling, and employment litigation for employers and executives.
• Energy Energy and environmental law services including renewable energy development, energy litigation, legislative and regulatory matters, and energy real estate transactions for investor-owned utilities, independent power producers, wind energy developers, renewable energy producers, and large industrial customers.
• Health Law Healthcare legal services including fraud and abuse defense, regulatory compliance, licensing, and healthcare mergers and acquisitions for healthcare providers and entities.
• Intellectual Property IP legal services including copyright, patent law and prosecution, trademark protection, technology transactions, and IP litigation for companies with intellectual property assets.
• Litigation Commercial litigation services covering antitrust, appellate matters, business disputes, construction litigation, data privacy litigation, securities litigation, and shareholder disputes for businesses facing complex commercial conflicts.
• Real Estate Development & Finance Real estate legal services including development and transactions, real estate finance, and tax credit financing and syndication for developers, investors, banks, syndicators, and lending institutions.
• Regulatory & Government Relations Government relations and regulatory services including advocacy, lobbying, campaign finance, cannabis law, and regulatory enforcement defense for clients facing regulatory or legislative matters.
• Tax Tax planning and transaction legal services for federal and state taxation matters, including tax-incentivized transactions and carried interest planning.
• Trusts & Estates Trust, will, and estate planning services including trusts, wills, estates, and fiduciary litigation for individuals, high-net-worth families, business owners, and professional fiduciaries.

Quantifiable outcome

• Represented $110M senior secured debt financing for Taco Bell franchisee
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Law Firm AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAn international strategic alliance of law firms from around the globe. Comprised of law firms providing resources to ensure competent, high quality and cost-effective legal solutions. The alliance includes 2,800 attorneys across more than 920 practice areas, offering a wide range of legal and industry specialties that Winthrop can leverage to serve clients.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Dorsey & Whitney LLP: Headquartered in Minneapolis with a comparable national full-service business law practice. Directly competes for the same enterprise banking, M&A, energy, and litigation mandates in the upper Midwest and beyond.
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Formed from the merger of Faegre Baker Daniels (Minneapolis) and Drinker Biddle (Philadelphia), producing a comparable mid-size full-service firm with overlapping practice areas in banking, energy, real estate, and corporate transactions.
• Lathrop GPM LLP: Minneapolis-headquartered business law firm of similar scale, formed from a 2020 merger. Competes directly for the same banking, corporate, real estate, and litigation work in the Twin Cities and across the Midwest.
• Robins Kaplan LLP: Minneapolis-based business litigation and trial firm with similar enterprise client mix (banks, Fortune 500, PE firms). Directly competes for complex commercial litigation mandates and shares the same regional talent pool.
• Maslon LLP: Twin Cities-based full-service business law firm with overlapping practices in corporate, real estate, and litigation. Smaller in scale but competes for the same mid-market and enterprise clients in Minneapolis.
• Stinson LLP: Mid-size national business law firm with a strong Midwest footprint (Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis). Comparable practice mix spanning banking, corporate, real estate, and litigation, and similar mid-market positioning.
• Husch Blackwell LLP: Mid-size full-service business law firm headquartered in Kansas City with a comparable Midwest/national practice mix. Competes for similar banking, energy, real estate, and corporate clients across overlapping geographies.
• Polsinelli PC: Kansas City-headquartered Am Law 200 firm with overlapping banking, healthcare, real estate, and corporate practices. Competes for similar mid-market and enterprise mandates and shares the Midwest growth orientation.
• Foley & Lardner LLP: Mid-size national business law firm with strong practices in energy, healthcare, and corporate transactions — all areas where Winthrop & Weinstine competes. Comparable scale and full-service positioning with broader geographic reach.
• Quarles & Brady LLP: Mid-size national full-service business law firm with overlapping practices in banking, real estate, corporate, and health law. Comparable scale and similar strategy of combining local-market strength with national client service.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WinthropMPLS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/winthrop-&-weinstine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Winthrop & Weinstine