Adrienne E. Van Winkle has litigated a wide variety of complex civil matters before state courts, federal courts, and arbitration panels. Her practice focuses primarily on professional liability defense, financial services litigation, copyright, and trade secret. Adrienne has experience with all aspects of litigation, including dispositive motions practice, discovery, and trial. She has argued more than ten motions before trial courts and recently argued an appeal. Adrienne also has an active pro bono practice through the D.C. Bar’s Advocacy and Justice Clinic and the firm’s partnership with the Maryland Public Defender’s Office.
Adrienne grew up in rural Southern Illinois, where she regularly (and with great interest) observed both her father and grandfather practice law. She earned a B.S. in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis and graduated summa cum laude, while also playing basketball for the Division III Bears and serving as team co-captain her senior year. Adrienne then graduated magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Before joining Williams & Connolly in 2011, she served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Deborah Cook, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Akron, Ohio; and the Honorable Cecilia Altonaga, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Miami. Adrienne lives in the District of Columbia with her fiancé and loveable mutt Stevie.
Representative Experience
- Representation of a “Big Four” accounting firm in a three-week arbitration trial involving claims by a bankruptcy trustee for a large insurer, in which the panel issued an award in favor of the accounting firm on all claims
- Representation of a “Big Four” accounting firm in a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) investigation
- Representation of a national accounting firm in a tax-preparation malpractice lawsuit
- Representation of law firms in malpractice matters, including allegations of negligently preparing transaction documents and negligently naming the wrong plaintiff in an underlying litigation
- Representation of officers and directors of community banks in lawsuits brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) alleging negligence and breaches of fiduciary duty
- Representation of an international commercial real estate data firm in a federal lawsuit alleging copyright infringement and related torts, in which all claims were dismissed
- Representation of a technology sales intelligence company in a lawsuit seeking to defend trade secrets
- Representation of a major international investment bank in actions against an indenture trustee and collateral agent of a failed commercial paper facility sponsored by the largest independent mortgage originator in the United States, in which the firm’s client ultimately recovered hundreds of millions of dollars