Discover the elite in litigation — the law firms who strike the most fear into their competitors. Recently, interest in the BTI Fearsome Foursome has surged, reflecting a growing recognition of their prowess. Learn innovative strategies to justify and implement rate increases in today’s competitive legal landscape, where client expectations are higher than ever.

See the attorneys named best in client service — exclusively identified based on unprompted client recommendations, setting the gold standard for client satisfaction. And, delve into our top posts of 2024 (so far) for actionable strategies to drive growth, retain clients, and cultivate a resilient organizational culture.

For nearly 15 years, top legal decision makers have singled out the law firms they don’t want to see on the other side of the table in litigation.

And these days, the most feared law firms in litigation have been on the upswing — as we’ve seen increasing traffic to the BTI Fearsome Foursome over the past two years.

Clients and competitors alike are searching for the best — to try to hire them — or to try to beat them.

How the numbers break down:

• • The BTI Fearsome Foursome 2023: 22,966 views
  • The BTI Fearsome Foursome 2024: 38,664 views

Congratulations, once again, to The BTI Fearsome Foursome of 2023 and 2024 — the law firms playing to win — and win big:

The BTI Fearsome Foursome 2023: The 46 Firms Most Feared in Litigation

For the 3rd time in the last 4 years, Quinn Emanuel earns the coveted number 1 spot among the BTI Fearsome Foursome. Please join us in congratulating them and all the firms recognized in this elite group.

• • QUINN EMANUEL 
  • Jones Day
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Skadden

The BTI Fearsome Foursome 2024: 62 Law Firms Most Feared in Litigation

Please join me in congratulating the 62 firms and, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, for being ranked number 1 for the 2nd year in a row.

• • QUINN EMANUEL 
  • Kirkland & Ellis
  • Jones Day
  • Gibson Dunn

Client’s naming the best of client service, brand new law firm rankings, business development’s evolution, what your prospects want, and practice highlights top the most popular Mad Clientist posts of the first half of 2024. Use these to drive growth, retain clients, and improve the culture.

Each post still offers new insights and strategies. Here are the top posts of 2024 so far:

The Best in Client Service:

Clients Single Out the BTI Client Service 30 2024 — Law Firms Best at Client Service
Clients — more than 300 of them — identify the law firms best at client service — along the 17 dimensions they say are the most crucial drivers. Corporate counsel point to 207 law firms out of the 650 competing for the business at mid- and large-size companies.

64 Law Firms with the Most Improved Client Service
Only 64 law firms managed to improve client service performance in 2024 — according to corporate counsel. This equates to just shy of 10% of all law firms. And client service still remains the biggest differentiator among law firms.

The BTI Client Service All-Stars — Clients Single Out 296 Attorneys from 148 Firms for The Best Client Service
Only clients can pinpoint the attorneys who are best-of-the-best at client service. We asked them to pinpoint these individuals by name — these are The BTI Client Service All-Stars. This research, the report, and the online directory serve as the gold standard to uncover the best.

New Rankings for 2024:

Clients Single Out the Law Firms on the Leading Edge: Helping Clients Implement Strategic Change
More than 80% of clients are going through a business transformation. 67% of corporate counsel are playing a mission-critical role in this transformation — and they single out the law firms best suited for this high-value new and novel work. These firms are best at delivering on the all-new expectations arising from clients changing how they do business.

All 121 Law Firms Best at Meeting Novel, New, and Strategic Needs
Complex, new, and novel matters are driving the market — as are transformational and strategic M&A. These create new demands for clients — who are enjoying the challenge — and their outside counsel. Clients tell us 121 law firms deliver on one or more of 5 new demands, at scale.

67 Firms Best at Cost Control — And You’ll Never Guess Why
Say goodbye to protracted rate negotiations. You can also skip the mandatory rate cuts, RFPs, elaborate reporting protocols, stringent oversight, and micromanagement — all of which are the typical reaction to cost control. The days of draconian cost management are over for now.

Business Development Evolves:

Law Firms are at a Business Development Tipping Point
Business development is about to get a lot harder. Or not. A lot of law firms are making big bets on this fundamental question behind market success. Our flash survey of more than 1,000 attorneys and law firm leaders reveals the split on business development getting harder or not.

Breaking Down Law Firm Business Development Cultures: Struggle or Strategize
A BTI flash survey of almost 700 attorneys reveals decidedly different law firm business development cultures. Underappreciated and maligned by some — worshipped by others — business development is creating the next strategic and cultural divide.

What Your Prospects are Looking For:

The Most Searched for Law Firms of 2023
While law firms scramble for keywords and algorithms, a select few are winning the real game — generating searches for their firm by name. No more hoping someone stumbles upon your website in a vast digital ocean. These clients are seeking you out, pre-qualified and ready to engage.

9 Reasons Clients Remember Pitches and Meetings
Corporate counsel hear a lot of pitches and talk to a lot of attorneys — an average of 22 a month at last count. They report hearing a lot of noise and routine data about current matters — or in a pitch, they hear about endless numbers of matters and statistics. Of these conversations and meetings — top corporate counsel define 9 circumstances triggering a coveted place in corporate counsel memory banks.

Industry and Practice Highlights:

Top Growth Practices and Industries for 2024
Client spending remains resilient — fueled by new needs and lingering issues, more companies than ever are pursuing innovative business models and adopting digital processes. We found 6 industries with outsized increases in spending.

11 Best Practices to Make Your Industry Groups Thrive
Virtually every new regulation and court decision brings unique industry-specific impacts. Your ability to bring this insight is the difference between being invited in without competition or being left out of the conversation. And — getting much higher rates.

Imagine paying exorbitant hourly rates for legal advice and receiving exactly what you expect — no surprises, no breakthroughs, no game-changing insights.

Now imagine this again in a world where 70% of clients want new and breakout ideas to help them. These rates becomes even more mundane.

The BTI Consulting Group’s 2024 Client Service All-Stars aren’t just attorneys; they are the unexpected navigators in uncharted waters. They are singled out for defying the mundane with five distinct qualities redefining client service.

5 reasons stand out as justifying the highest rates — and why the best client service is born from the willingness to disrupt, innovate, and lead with audacity.

New Ideas

Complex, new and novel issues dominate the corporate counsel landscape. They deal with digital transformation, building new supply chains, fighting regulatory headwinds, activist labor forces using new tactics, and geopolitical risk. Clients want ideas on how to advise their management teams. Some see it as a pivotal career stepping stone. Good ideas are prized.

Insights

Clients value people who bring a deep understanding of their issues along with the potential answers. BTI Client Service All-Stars draw on their experience, observations, and intuition to help clients work through these challenges. They help clients better understand how to get the best outcomes — and help their clients succeed as individuals.

First to Know

Being first to know offers clients the opportunity to brief their management, be proactive, and often gain an advantage. This is especially true as the rate of change in the world — never mind law — is happening at a record pace. These clients believe they are the first to know what they need to know and have come to rely on their BTI Client Service All-Star to be ahead of the pack.

 Unequivocal

Clear concise recommendations drive results. Even when clients disagree they are quick to point out how these recommendations help their thinking — and drive a better decision. Unequivocal recommendations drive creativity and are foundational to developing alternative views. These new viewpoints can be pivotal in solving new and novel problems.

Looking Ahead

The newly accelerated rate of change demands clients keep a keen eye on the future. BTI Client Service All-Stars are looking further into the future. They’re sorting out what their clients need to worry about and separating it from the noise. And — they make sure clients know how these future issues might impact them — with ideas on what to do.

Only clients can pinpoint the attorneys who are best-of-the-best at client service. We asked them to pinpoint these individuals by name — these are The BTI Client Service All-Stars. This research, the report, and the online directory serve as the gold standard to uncover the best. Used by law firms and corporate counsel alike — it remains the pinnacle of client service performance.

The Only Purely Organic Ranking

The only way to be included in The BTI Client Service All-Stars is through an unprompted, unequivocal recommendation from corporate counsel. No law firm or attorney can submit a name or pay to be included. No firm can nominate an attorney or submit corporate counsel names to be interviewed. The 2024 BTI Client Service All-Stars are identified solely and exclusively by clients.

Clients single out 296 attorneys from 148 law firms. Among these attorneys:

Only 2 are BTI Client Service All-Stars for 5 or more years in a row:

William P Geraghty, Partner, Shook Hardy & Bacon
Jeffrey J. Jones, Partner, Jones Day

16 are BTI Client Service All-Stars for 3 or more years in a row:

Scott N. Godes, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg – 4 years
Michael H. Carpenter, Partner, Carpenter Lipps – 4 years
James F. Bennett, Partner, Dowd Bennett – 4 years
Erin Rhinehart, Co-Managing Partner, Faruki – 4 years
David M. Barkin, Principal, Fish & Richardson – 4 years
Carmine R. Zarlenga, Partner, Mayer Brown – 4 years
Joshua Kipnees, Partner, Patterson Belknap – 4 years
Joseph A. Cancila Jr., Partner, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila – 4 years
Frank Falzetta, Partner, Sheppard Mullin – 4 years
Jaime L. M. Jones, Partner, Sidley – 4 years
Caroline Turner English, Partner, ArentFox Schiff – 3 years
Mark A. Neubauer, Shareholder, Carlton Fields – 3 years
Stephanie L. Adler-Paindiris, Principal, Jackson Lewis – 3 years
Keith A. Jacoby, Shareholder | Co-Chair, Class Action Practice Group, Littler – 3 years
John C. Dodds, Partner, Morgan Lewis – 3 years
Peter M. Henk, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon – 3 years

3 firms are home to 7 BTI Client Service All-Stars — the highest number:

Jones Day

Littler

Ogletree Deakins

6 firms serve as home to 6 BTI Client Service All-Stars:

Baker Hostetler

DLA Piper

Gibson Dunn

King & Spalding

McGuire Woods

Morgan Lewis

Firms with multiple BTI Client Service All-Stars include:

Carlton Fields
Faegre Drinker
Greenberg Traurig
Latham & Watkins
Covington
Davis Wright Tremaine
Frost Brown Todd
Hogan Lovells
Polsinelli
Reed Smith
Ropes & Gray
Seyfarth
Sheppard Mullin
Alston & Bird
Arnold & Porter
Bartlit Beck
Cooley
Jackson Lewis
Kilpatrick Townsend
Loeb & Loeb   
McCarter & English
Orrick
Robins Kaplan
Skadden
Akin
ArentFox Schiff
Baker Donelson
Baker McKenzie
Ballard Sparh
Barnes & Thornburg

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Blank Rome
Bradley
Buchanan
Cadwalader
Carpenter Lipps
Davis Polk
Day Pitney
Duane Morris
Faruki
Finnegan
Fish & Richardson
Foley & Lardner
Goodwin
Hinckley Allen
Holland & Knight
Hueston Hennigan
Hunton Andrews Kurth
Husch Blackwell
K&L Gates
Kirkland & Ellis
McDermott Will & Emery
Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan
Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Sidley
Smith, Gambrell & Russell
Troutman Pepper
Wachtell Lipton

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Culture can and does drive success in a law firm.

Most firms rely on unwritten rules and past behaviors to define their culture. This approach embraces inertia and creates barriers to learning the culture, never mind thriving in it. Building improved culture is rarely a topic of discussion.

As one AmLaw 50 firm chair lamented: “We always prided ourselves on hiring ‘the best people’ and the culture would take care of itself. Instead, we have a culture collage — lots of thoughts about what it is and should be — but little action. It’s now a talent retention issue so it’s bubbling up to the top fast.”

4 Attitudes Towards Culture

Our recent survey of 200 law firm leaders conducted with Patrick McKenna reveals approaches to culture fall into 4 widely different mindsets:

Progressive firm leaders — at 34% — are realizing success in the market and talent requires rewriting the unwritten rules to foster an intentional, high-performance culture

Forward-looking leaders — 24% — believe driving growth helps set the stage for an improved culture and more growth. They are betting growth drives a high-performing culture

Otherwise engaged leaders — also at 24% — are focusing on lateral recruitment as their top priority. As one leader says “I can fix culture later I need the right talent in place to drive the culture”

Another 7% are simply not worried about it — they are looking for merger partners or big events to redefine their culture

Flipping the Script on Culture

You can build a more strategic and intentional culture now. We recommend starting by:

Making culture discussion routine. Take 10 minutes at every practice group meeting to discuss cultural norms. Separate myth from reality and pinpoint the norms helping the most.

Redefine comp to support the high-performing cultures you want. Most firms have enough flexibility in comp to achieve their lateral recruitment goals — now it’s time to apply this flexibility to support cultural goals.

Celebrate small and big wins supporting the targeted cultural norms. Most firms don’t openly celebrate wins — cultural wins deserve dedicated air time and recognition. Celebrations bring these behaviors into firm norms.

Set behavioral metrics. Lay out activities to support your intended culture, for example: client service, associate satisfaction, partner satisfaction, realization rates, and inbound leads.

The Firm Leaders Role

A progressive firm chair shared an impactful perspective: “I used to think my role was about creating a strategic vision then cheerleading people to get on board. I’ve realized nothing really changes until I rewrite our cultural norms and change the ‘unwritten rules’. My behaviors have a much bigger voice than I ever thought.”

Culture is quickly becoming a proving ground for success. As with law firms’ strategies — leaders are making different bets — and we can all watch the winners take the lead.