I know it’s a familiar refrain for us here at Above the Law, but lawyers love cool rankings — call it the L.L. Cool R effect. Sorry, it’s a bad joke and I know it, but I have to do something while waiting for more Biglaw firms to announce their year-end bonuses.
Anyway, we’ve got some Biglaw rankings for you to enjoy / waste time with. BTI Consulting Group has their latest 2020 Client Service A-Team report out. To come up with their list of all-star client service firms, BTI conducted 350+ interviews with in-house counsel at companies with average revenues of $21.8 billion. Then BTI asked which law firms are tops in 17 different client-service-related activities, including: Understanding the client’s business, uniformity of service, dealing with unexpected changes, unprompted communication, and anticipating clients’ needs. To make the A-Team, the following 30 Biglaw firms were mentioned most often across all categories:
- Jones Day
- Gibson Dunn
- Arnold & Porter
- Morgan Lewis
- Sidley
- Skadden
- DLA Piper
- McGuireWoods
- Littler
- Covington
- Baker McKenzie
- Kirkland
- Greenberg Traurig
- Reed Smith
- Seyfarth Shaw
- Ogletree Deakins
- Latham
- Wachtell
- Jackson Lewis
- Hogan Lovells
- Davis Polk
- Faegre BD
- BakerHostetler
- McDermott
- Mayer Brown
- Alston & Bird
- White & Case
- Hunton
- King & Spalding
- Polsinelli
Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting, told Law360 they added two new categories for this year’s ranking: Dealing with complexity and delivering a uniform service. And why did they add them? Well, it’s because clients increasingly demand those skills:
“Dealing with complexity and a uniform experience are now pillars of client service. Five years ago they were a bonus,” Rynowecer said. “I think that is a watershed event. I think you’re going to see more volatility in what clients want and expect in terms of client service, and I think this is the start of that watershed.”
Congrats to the firms that made the 2020 list!
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).