Now this is a list that matters. Corporate Counsel (an American Lawyer publication) has complied its annual list of the firms that Fortune 100 companies use as outside counsel. This is a list of which firms are getting work from clients with deep pockets. If you care at all about the business end of the law, then you care about this list.
And while the firms that are tapped for this kind of work won’t surprise anybody, it’s always good to take a look at who clients want to be with.
For general corporate law, these are the firms that were mentioned most by clients reporting to the magazine:
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Cleary: 12 mentions
Davis Polk: 11 mentions
Cravath: 10 mentions
Simpson Thacher: 10 mentions
Yep, no real surprises there.
But what about some other practice areas? Well, the names start to change…
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Let’s highlight the intellectual property field — just because people always seem to be interested in doing IP work. Here are the firms with the top mentions:
Alston & Bird: 8 mentions
K&L Gates: 7 mentions
Baker Botts: 6 mentions
Fish & Richardson: 6 mentions
You can check Corporate Counsel’s full breakout of firms by practice area over here.
Or you can look at the firms that specific clients use. Ever wonder who would be in the pole position to get Ford work should the company ever “pull a Toyota”? Well, we live in a world where we don’t have to wonder about such things.
The methodology for this list is exceedingly simple, if ridiculously time-consuming. Corporate Counsel looked at PACER, public filings, the Corporate Scorecard, and the Patent and Trademark office. All in all, it’s a nice snapshot of who is representing our wealthiest corporations.
Have fun with the results, and let us know if anything shocking or surprising is tucked away in there.
The State of the Union [Corporate Counsel]
Who Reps Mini-Charts: The Usual Suspects [Corporate Counsel]
The Big Chart: Who Represents Who? [Corporate Counsel]