Summary: The National Law Journal and Law.com have created a list of the top 50 plaintiff’s law firms.
It was a profitable year for plaintiffs’ attorneys and their clients, the National Law Journal Reports. Billions of dollars in recoveries were reported, with the 100 largest verdicts of 2013 in excess of $10 billion. 2014 is expected to meet or surpass that level. Such massive settlements will have significant effects on public policies and corporate behavior.
The National Law Journal and Law.com collaborated to choose firms that are performing the most creative and substantial plaintiffs’ work. The top 50 firms were chosen and incorporated into the first list of America’s Elite Trial Lawyers. These firms obtained major victories in complex litigation cases that will have tremendous impacts on both the law and businesses.
Over 100 firms were analyzed before compiling the list. The firms were required to have had at least one favorable result for plaintiffs between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. An successful track record in the last three to five years was also required. To qualify, a “significant win” meant prevailing in a bench or jury trial or in a settlement that carried high stakes—such as a substantial amount of money, or an effect on litigation strategy or case law nationwide. Further, at least half of these firms’ litigation resources must have been dedicated to plaintiffs’ work, and at least half of all revenue generated by the firms was required to be derived from plaintiffs’ activities.
Some of the factors used in creating the list were complexity of procedure and substantive law; impact of litigation results; verdict dollar amount; performance in significant cases; feedback from the bench; willingness to take on large cases; duration of the case and/or number of class members; novelty of the claim or cause of action; firm size in relation to impact or recovery amount; and volume of cases handled in a specific time period.
The firms are listed in alphabetical order below. The ranking will be announced on September 29.
Baron & Budd
Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles
Berger & Montague
Bernstein Liebhard
Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
Buzbee Law Firm
Clifford Law Offices
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy
Eglet Law
Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg Urias & Ward
Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz
Gibbs & Bruns
Girardi Keese
Grant & Eisenhofer
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
Hare Wynn Newell & Newton
Hausfeld
Herman Herman & Katz
Hilliard Munoz Gonzales
Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer
Kline & Specter
Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto
Korein Tillery
Labaton Sucharow
The Lanier Law Firm
The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson
Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman
Milberg
Morgan and Morgan
Motley Rice
Nagel Rice
Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik
Neufeld Scheck & Brustin
Nichols Kaster
Panish Shea & Boyle
Podhurst Orseck
Provost Umphrey Law Firm
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi
Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis
Sanford Heisler
Seeger Weiss
Simmons Hanly Conroy
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo
Susman Godfrey
Tycko & Zavareei
Weitz & Luxenberg
Photo credit: nationallawjournal.com