Winston & Strawn has brought on the national chair of Seyfarth Shaw's commercial class action defense group, Daniel Blouin, signaling the firm's commitment to its litigation side even as it bolsters its transactional practices.

The Chicago-based firm has been investing heavily in its transactional practices. Chairman Thomas Fitzgerald told The American Lawyer earlier this month that approximately 50% of the $1.012 billion the firm generated in 2019 came from shepherding corporate deals.

But the firm hasn't been slouching when it comes to litigators, and Blouin's hire is proof of that, said Linda Coberly, the managing partner of Winston & Strawn's Chicago office.

"We haven't gotten to this point by deemphasizing litigation," Coberly said. "We've been doing a couple of things at the firm at the same time."

Blouin spent nearly 30 years at Seyfarth and was happy there, he said. But he was tempted to join his new firm when he was approached by some of his personal friends, who also worked at Winston.

"It wasn't like I didn't have any of that at Seyfarth. I did have that at Seyfarth. But being able to start new, a new professional challenge with great people, with great expertise, with great reputations, that ultimately enticed me to join Winston," Blouin said.

Blouin said his clients, for whom he has handled more than 75 class actions in state and federal courts, including multidistrict litigation, will be joining him at Winston.

Blouin's first day as a Winston partner was Tuesday, but he hasn't actually stepped foot inside of his office to do any work there. That's because the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many law firms, including Winston, to go remote. Blouin said he went to Winston's office last week to pick up his work laptop, and has been working from his Naperville, Illinois, home this week.

Instead of meeting his new co-workers and other Winston clients in-person, he's been participating in a series of video conference and phone calls. People who call his Winston line are automatically directed to his home office, where he has a dual monitor display set up.

Blouin said he was inundated with phone calls and email messages from his new co-workers on his first day.

"I expected some of that, I didn't expect the significant outreach in just a couple of days, from the chairman of the firm to senior firm management to paralegals whom I will be working with in Chicago," Blouin said.

"The integration has been truly remarkable," he added.

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