Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP
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| Founded | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Founder | David F. Wood Kevin D. Smith Stephen J. Henning Daniel A. Berman |
Key people | Daniel A. Berman (executive chairman) Stewart Reid (managing partner) |
| Website | www |
Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP (WSHB) is an American law firm headquartered in Santa Monica, California. The firm concentrates on civil litigation defense and operates 43 offices in 23 U.S. states.
History
Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP was founded in 1997 by lawyers David F. Wood, Kevin D. Smith, Stephen J. Henning and Daniel A. Berman.
The firm initially operated from two offices in Southern California, beginning in downtown Los Angeles, with nine attorneys. Its early practice focused on litigation areas including construction defect, general liability defense, transportation and products liability.
The firm expanded to Northern California in 2000 and Las Vegas in 2003, and added more than 100 lawyers and 13 offices between 2005 and 2015.
In September 2018, WSHB entered an exclusive association with DWF, a Manchester-headquartered global legal business providing traditional legal services along with managed services, legal operations and business advisory offerings.
In November 2025, the firm relocated its headquarters from Westwood to Santa Monica, its third headquarters location after downtown Los Angeles and Westwood. The relocation split the prior flagship office, with approximately 25 attorneys moving to the new Santa Monica location and about 25 to a new office in El Segundo.
Proposed private equity investment
In August 2026, the Financial Times reported that WSHB had signed a letter of intent with the private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners in a transaction valuing the firm at approximately $700 million. The reported valuation represented roughly 18 times the firm's 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $38.2 million, against 2025 revenue of $244.4 million.
The transaction was reported to be structured as a management services organization (MSO), under which the law firm's equity and control of legal services remain with its lawyers while a separately owned entity holds business functions such as technology, billing, finance, human resources and administration. The structure is used to accommodate ABA Model Rule 5.4, which restricts the sharing of legal fees with, and ownership of law firms by, non-lawyers. Commentators described the reported transaction as one of the first such investments in a large corporate-facing litigation defense firm in the United States.
The reported transaction was described as one of the largest private equity investments in the United States legal sector to date.
As of August 2026, neither firm had publicly announced or confirmed a completed transaction.
Practice
The firm practices civil litigation defense in areas including general liability, construction, employment, professional liability, environmental and toxic tort, medical malpractice, transportation, insurance coverage, commercial disputes, real estate, subrogation and intellectual property. Its clients include privately held companies, public entities, Fortune 500 corporations and insurance carriers.
As of 2026, the firm had approximately 550 attorneys, of whom about 160 were partners.
Offices
As of 2026, WSHB has 43 offices in 23 U.S. states.
| State | Offices |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Birmingham, Mobile |
| Arizona | Phoenix |
| California | Concord, El Segundo, Fresno, Glendale, Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County, Riverside, San Diego, Sonoma County, Thousand Oaks |
| Colorado | Denver |
| Connecticut | Hartford, Westport |
| Florida | Boca Raton, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa |
| Georgia | Atlanta |
| Illinois | Chicago |
| Louisiana | New Orleans |
| Massachusetts | Boston |
| Michigan | Detroit |
| Nevada | Las Vegas, Reno |
| New Jersey | Berkeley Heights |
| New York | New York City, White Plains |
| North Carolina | Raleigh |
| Oregon | Portland |
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia |
| Rhode Island | Providence |
| South Carolina | Charleston |
| Tennessee | Knoxville |
| Texas | Dallas, Houston, Rio Grande Valley |
| Virginia | Richmond |
| Washington | Seattle |
References
External links
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