Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Llp history

By 1884 the two founding partners had begun representing the city of Winston, one of the firm's long-term clients.

In 1885 Watson left the partnership, so William Glenn joined with Robert B. Glenn to form Glenn & Glenn.

In 1896 the partnership recruited William M. Hendren, and the following year it became known as Glenn, Manley & Hendren.

In 1905 the North Carolina Bar Association chose Clement Manley as its seventh president.

1911: Manley, Hendren & Womble becomes the firm's new name.

The tobacco company in 1918 made 12 billion cigarettes; many were sent to France for the nation's soldiers in World War I. When R.J. Reynolds died in 1918, partner Clement Manley handled the tobacco tycoon's will and estate proceedings.

The law firm gained new clients during the booming economy of the 1920s.

In 1942 the partnership changed its name to Womble, Carlyle, Martin & Sandridge.

Meanwhile, the firm's partners led the effort to desegregate the local Forsyth County Bar Association in 1963 and the North Carolina Bar Association a few years later.

1984: The Charlotte office is started.

1996: John Garrou replaces Murray Greason as the management committee chairman; firm merges with Atlanta business law firm of Parker, Johnson, Cook and Dunlevie.

With 429 lawyers and 149 equity partners, the firm's profits per equity partner of $475,000 ranked it at number 79, down from number 78 in 2000. It ranked Womble Carlyle as number 90 based on 2001 gross revenue of $174 million.

In July 2002 the American Lawyer published its annual list of the nation's largest law firms.