In the Media
Eric White Featured in Q&A with Chicago Lawyer Magazine
In the Media
October 24, 2023
In a Q&A with Chicago Lawyer Magazine, Winston & Strawn partner Eric White discussed his road to joining Winston, the investigation he co-led to expose racism in the Minneapolis Police Department, and how he continues to help others and be a leader in the community as a Black and gay attorney.
Prior to attending law school, Eric began teaching through Teach For America where he was assigned to a low performing, high poverty school to educate sixth graders in science and social studies. Eric said his years teaching were a crash course that prepared him for his now successful litigation and trial practice. “It was a challenging school for the students, teachers, and parents,” he said. “But I can tell you, no matter the background of the students … you can’t get any tougher than a jury of 30-plus sixth grade kids in your classroom all day.”
Eric also discussed his participation in multiple organizations—including the associate board of the Chicago Committee for Minorities in Large Law Firms and as a fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity—to create more opportunities for diverse attorneys.
“I try to be a part of organizations that align with my personal mission of ensuring diverse attorneys have equal opportunities. Then I actualize that on an internal basis at my firm,” he said. “I am down into the nitty gritty of mentoring diverse associates. For me that means doing social things with them, seeing what they need so I can help them progress in their careers.”
He noted that in addition to looking for a firm with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, he was also looking to be at a “fearsome trial firm.”
“Also important to me was the horizon of my career [at] a place and platform where I could maximize my opportunities for my clients and prospective clients on both sides of the house, litigation and transactional,” Eric said. “When I looked at Winston, which has not only just a great trial shop, but a good corporate practice, I thought that was important for my clients to be able to give them a full suite of services and, frankly, competitive pricing.”
