Which Law Firm Rules the Forbes Law Roost?

Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor

It was only a matter of time before Forbes – the list mavens – would come out with a list of America’s Top lawyers and their list of America’s Top 200 lawyers doesn’t disappoint. It’s a comprehensive effort, as one would expect of Forbes, and provides an array of legal talent that represents the diversity of the US legal profession. We took a look at the deconstruction of the List and how it is made up.

But – apart from 200 names – what does the Forbes List tell us about the ‘top lawyers?’

The list highlights the breadth of legal specialties represented, including litigation, tech, transactional, intellectual property, civil rights, M&A, and private equity, among others.

Litigation is a key area featured on the list, with a focus on lawyers who excel in handling complex disputes, trials, and appeals.

In the tech sector, the Forbes Top 200 Lawyers list includes attorneys who specialize in technology law, advising clients on cutting-edge issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property rights, e-commerce, and regulatory compliance.

These tech-savvy lawyers possess a unique blend of legal acumen and technological expertise, helping companies navigate the complex legal landscape in the digital age and stay ahead of rapidly evolving industry trends.

Intellectual property (IP) lawyers are prominently represented on the Forbes Top 200 Lawyers list, emphasizing the importance of protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights in a competitive global marketplace.

Gender Diversity in Legal Excellence

One significant aspect of the Forbes Top 200 Lawyers list that draws attention is the representation of women attorneys.

Although Forbes don’t expressly say how many women are on the list, there are 66 who make the list, including Boies Schiller Managing Partner Sigrid McCawley (below left); Blank Rome leading family lawyer Kristina Royce (middle) and Paul Weiss’ Kimberley Branscome (right).

Women lawyers have been breaking barriers and making strides in various legal specialties, including litigation, corporate law, intellectual property, civil rights, and other legal areas.

https://www.lawfuel.com/women-outnumber-men-in-us-law-firms-for-first-time-says-survey/Their presence on the Forbes list highlights their expertise, leadership, and impact in their respective practice areas, notwithstanding the ongoing issues of women in law and their under-representation in some of the top levels of practice in the legal profession with more women associates than men recognized in the US law profession for the first time.

As the legal industry continues to evolve, the presence of women attorneys in top rankings like the Forbes list underscores the importance of gender diversity and equal opportunities in the legal field.

Law Firms Representation on Forbes Top Lawyers

Among the firms making themselves visible on the Forbes List are the usual suspects, but also a number of boutiques and specialist practices.

Which law firm rules the Forbes’ Roost?

Among the top tier law firms were:

1. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison: 6
2. Sidley Austin LLP: 5
3. Latham Watkins: 4
4. DLA Piper: 3
5. Boies Schiller Flexner: 3
6. Kirkland & Ellis: 3
7. Norton Rose: 3
8. Many of the firms had two mentions, such as Williams & Connolly, Skadden Arps, Morgan Lewis and Foley & Lardner.

What is also surprising – perhaps – is the number of big law firms that received no mention on the List.

Take Baker McKenzie, for instance, or the new megafirm of Allen & Overy and Shearman (now A&O Shearman), where A&O received no mention, along with most other UK biglaw firms like Linklaters and Freshfields, and Shearman & Sterling received just one, for New York litigator Adam Hakki.

Or Cleary Gottlieb.

Or Hogan Lovells.

Or Simpson Thacher.

Wide Spectrum of Practice Areas

The Forbes Law list covers a wide spectrum of practice areas, with litigation being the obvious leader in terms of number of ‘litigation listed’ entries, excluding those nominated on the list under ‘commercial’ or ‘civil’ litigation.

Among the major league litigators are names like Jason Itkin, the Houston personal injury attorney who has won several of the largest jury verdicts in the US.

Itkin set up his own law firm, is the only lawyer to have secured a billion dollar verdict for an individual and has also obtained the $8 billion record-setting verdict against Johnson & Johnson, an $860 million dollar historic wrongful death verdict, a $222 million dollar record-breaking verdict in Texas and others. In the last 12 months alone, Itkin has won more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for his clients.

One of the practice areas featured on the Forbes list is civil rights law with five attorneys on the list, such as famed lawyer Ben Crump.

Appellate lawyers came in with 9 lawyers, including such leading figures as Amy Saharia at Williams & Connolly and Florida-based government and business appellate winner Edward Guedes, pictured.

Corporate law is a key practice area that is well-represented on the Forbes list. Corporate lawyers advise businesses on a wide range of legal issues, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, compliance, and commercial transactions. These attorneys play a vital role in helping companies navigate the legal complexities of the business world.

Although the Forbes list is a first-time list, we suspect the media and entertainment sector would be shown as one of the fastest-growing should there have been a list produced in the last five or 10 years.

The 2024 list shows 12 of the list members being in the field, including luminaries like John Branca, (pictured) the lawyer for Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley’s estates, as well as as range of other leading figures.

Also there is John Gatti, an entertainment and sports litigator from long time entertainment law leader Loeb & Loeb.

The Criminal Lawyers

Criminal defense law leads to leading figures, and counts for 10 firms on the List, including those involved in white collar criminal defense work.

Among the leading criminal lawyers is Benjamin Brafman who has handled many profile cases, specifically the now ‘in-the-news’ Sean P Diddy Combs’ and Harvey Weinstein. The former prosecutor is renowned for his ability to craft defenses for his clients, particularly in the white collar defense work he handles.

Similarly the LawFuel law star Alex Spiro features as one of the top entries in the Forbes list for his exceptional legal defense work and high profile claim to being one of America’s top defense lawyers, including his work with Elon Musk among many others.

Intellectual property is a significant practice area that is featured on the Forbes list with 11 lawyers men tioned in this category.

Labor and employment law is also a prominent practice area represented on the Forbes list which also has 11 lawyers named, for defense, entitlements or general employment law roles.

Among the leading lawyers in the sector is David Sanford, (pictured) co-founder of Sanford Heisler Sharp, a firm focused on pursuing important social justice and civil rights cases. He has served as lead counsel in numerous class actions, qui tam, and whistleblower cases.

Sanford and his team achieved a landmark victory against Novartis, securing a $253 million verdict for 7,000 women in the largest gender discrimination employment case in U.S. history. They also reached a $99 million settlement with Novartis in a wage-and-hour class action representing pharmaceutical representatives.

Environment law specialists received four inclusions in the list.

And for the single specialist lawyers there were three areas of ‘solo mentions’, being gaming ( William Downey, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck), cannabis law (Matthew Ginder, Greenspoon Marder), election law (Marc Elias, Elias Law Group), consumer finance (Sabrina Rose-Smith, Goodwin Procter) and whistleblower retaliation (Alexis Ronickher, Katz Banks Kumin).

The Forbes Top Lawyers list adds to the pantheon of legal lists but given Forbes’ pedigree in this area, we can only now see it expanding and continuing to attract attention to the law profession in its continuing growth, diversity and range of practice areas and practitioners.

Read More about the Leading Lawyers –