The Research Triangle area of North Carolina has seen some intense competition and growth among law firms . . Here are the largest law firms operating in Raleigh
As one of the most vibrant and fast-growing regions in the country, the ‘Research Triangle’ or ‘Triangle’ are the names given to the Piedmont region of North Caroline, which see the cities of Raleigh and Durham and Chapel Hill.
The Triangle provide home to major research universities like Duke, which help provide the support for the fast-growing research and high tech companies in the Triangle – as well as the law firms that support them with legal teams and legal experts helping with regulatory matters, business litigation and all the related areas of involvement for lawyers.
Determining the largest law firm in Raleigh is simple enough, but being ‘big’ is not necessarily determining of what is also ‘best’ in the practice area that any client may be seeking legal expertise.
Choosing legal services is not just a question of size, but a variety of other factors such as years of experience, professional achievement and so forth.
Brooks Pierce is the largest law firm in Raleigh with 80 partners in the Raleigh office, providing full legal services and complemented by a range of associates, paralegals and other specialists providing legal work for internet entrepreneurs and others in the Research Triange.
Brooks Pierce has three offices across the state and provides legal services across the board, ranging from financial services and government contracts to life sciences and white collar crime.
The firm has picked up numerous awards and has a long history and association with North Carolina over the past 125 years.
Smith Anderson is one of the largest law firms in the Triangle and operates from its single, Raleigh office with over 140 attorneys.
Founded in 1912, Smith Anderson is the largest law firm in Raleigh and is a true Raleigh ‘native’ and the sixth or seventh largest law firm in North Carolina, reaching clients both nationally and internationally through an international legal alliance and through its long history that has seen it represent major clients, agribusiness clients, tech clients in the Triangle, real estate and construction clients, healthcare law and others, along with being a major business and litigation law firm.
Philadelphia-based Fox Rothchild is a major firm with around 1000 attorneys across its office network with 17 partners operating out of the Raleigh office.
An AmLaw 100 law firm, Fox Rothchild has expertise across the full field of legal services, including real estate, bankruptcy and restructuring, intellectual property, companies and commercial, labor and employment law and more.
Womble Bond Dickson LLP has around 80 attorneys in its Raleigh office and provides a full service offering over a variety of legal issues. Womble Bond Dickson has 40 partners in the Raleigh office and provides a full range of service as befits a trans-Atlantic law firm which was created in 2017 from a merger between a UK law firm and Womble Carlyle in the US.
Poynter Spruill is a full service law firm with four offices in North Carolina including its Raleigh office where there are around 50 partners and additional legal professionals helping to provide a full range of legal services.
The current firm was the result of a merger of two of North Carolina’s oldest law firms: Poyner, Geraghty, Hartsfield & Townsend of Raleigh and Spruill & Spruill of Rocky Mount and Raleigh. The result has been a firm that has become well respected and highly involved in diversity and community matters.
It has also received recognition for its work, including from Super Lawyers magazine and Best Lawyers in America, as well as appearing on lists in such as Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” list.
Parker Poe is another top legal name in North Carolina and well beyond as well having operated in the Carolinas, but also with an international practice group that has provided services to companies in Europe, Asia, South America and elsewhere for the past 35 years.
The firm has 30 partners in the Raleigh office and employs more than 275 attorneys overall, serving clients from eight offices in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and Spartanburg, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Washington, DC. With its international connections, Parker Poe has memberships with TerraLex and Employment Law Alliance
Ward & Smith has five offices in North Carolina with the Raleigh office having 29 attorneys handling a full range of services ranging from agri-business to zoning law. With around 90 attorneys firm-wide, it has created a teams-based approach with specialty areas in business, construction, energy, family law, trusts and other matters.
McGuire Woods is another major firm with over 20 partners operating out of the Raleigh office and providing services right across the regulatory, commercial, litigation and other areas. With 24 offices across the US, Europe and Asia, McGuire Woods is a major big law firm that continues to exert its influence in the Raleigh area, using its network and expertise to build its legal footprint.
Hutchison Law is a relatively recent addition to the Raleigh legal landscape. A firm of 22 attorneys it was founded in 1996 it has two offices in North Carolina (including Raleigh) as well as in Atlanta, GA. A membership in LawExchange also provide access to counsel in various other towns, cities and countries.
The firm’s focus area is technology law, life sciences and related areas.
Kilpatrick Townsend is another Big Law firm with a significant office in Raleigh. With over 600 lawyers internationally and offices throughout the US, Europe and Asia, Kilpatrick Townsend is not a ‘Raleigh native’, but is headquartered nearby in Atlanta, GA and provides a full range of legal services
K&L Gates is another Big Law firm with around 20 partners operating out of the firm’s Raleigh office, providing a full range of legal services. With over 1800 lawyers working from 45 offices globally, K&L Gates is certainly one of the AmLaw 100 top members and provides all the clout expected from a legal heavyweight.
Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan was recently named the sixth largest law firm in North Carolina. A Big Law firm with a single location in the ‘research triangle’ region, based in Raleigh and with over 80 partners and having a total of over 140 lawyers, Smith Anderson provides a full range of services for clients both within the State and overseas through its network of allied law firms.
Williams Mullen opened its office in Raleigh in 2007 following a merger with Maupin Taylor, which had a long history in the Triange dating back to the 1870s.
With 29 partners in the Raleigh office, Williams Mullen provide a full service across the legal spectrum.
Lewis & Roberts is a 9 partner boutique litigation firm providing litigation and other legal services via its Raleigh office. A well regarded firm, Lewis & Roberts have strong links with the community and come with high ratings for their litigation work at both state and federal level.
Manning Fulton has offices in both Raleigh and Durham. With close to 50 attorneys across the two offices, Manning Fulton provides advice to private and public companies, real estate investors and others.
Remember that the best law firms in Raleigh NC do not necessarily equate with the biggest, but the Raleigh law firm list does comprise some top law firms that are among the biggest law firms in North Carolina, and also among the best.
