It’s the difference between advice and answers.
Advice includes an element of industry understanding and nuance. Answers state the facts. Clients pay premiums for advice. Not so much for facts.
Industry understanding includes 2 key elements: industry dynamics, trends and regulatory protocols and – from a business development perspective – more importantly – industry mindset. Each industry brings different thinking and views of risks. Knowing how to apply these nuances is the super power of industry understanding.
To help make this point – we highlight 3 of the largest industries as measured by outside counsel spending in our just released report BTI Most Recommended Law Firms 2025. Compare the different industry perspectives and the law firms clients point to as bringing the best understanding for each:
High Tech
Clients place a premium on the firms who feel like they are sitting next to them in the foxhole. These clients are aggressive and unrelenting – and expect the same from their top law firms. These 12 firms are best at bringing this stance to their clients:
Baker McKenzie
Cooley
Davis Polk
DLA Piper
Faegre Drinker
Fish & Richardson
Gibson Dunn
Goodwin
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Littler
Morrison & Foerster
Learn who the other 59 firms earning this rare privilege are in our new report.
Financial Services
Financial Services – as a group – spend more on legal services than any other. They also use more law firms than any other. They place premium value on the firms who know how to turn regulation into profits and new business. These firms are future focused. They see how regulations are intertwined with opportunity. These 19 firms are best at bringing these opportunities to their clients:
Baker McKenzie
Cooley
Davis Wright Tremaine
Goodwin
GrayRobinson
Greenberg Traurig
Jones Day
King & Spalding
Littler
Maynard Nexsen
McGuireWoods
Milbank
Ogletree Deakins
Paul Hastings
Seyfarth
Sidley
Skadden
Stradley Ronon
Wilson Sonsini
See the 37 remaining few firms gaining unprompted recommendations from Financial Services corporate counsel in our new report.
Big Pharma
Rivaling High Tech in legal spending largess – these clients bring outsized focus to revenue and growth.
They place the highest value on the law firms understanding how to accelerate revenue, reduce risk, and move faster than regulators.
Much of this industry is a regulatory maze combined with various forms of deal making talent. These 18 law firms bring the best of the best of this nuanced understanding:
Akin
Arnold & Porter
Baker Donelson
Davis Polk
DLA Piper
Faegre Drinker
Finnegan
Fish & Richardson
Foley Hoag
Greenberg Traurig
Hill Ward Henderson
Hogan Lovells
Jones Day
K&L Gates
King & Spalding
Polsinelli
Ropes & Gray
Skadden
Discover the remaining 37 most recommended firms for Big Pharma in the report.
Each industry brings its own view of the world and its business. Your ability to land the premium rates and enduring relationships lies in not just understanding – but adding to your client’s depth.
Learn the subtle (and not so subtle) industry mindsets and business understanding in BTI’s brand new BTI Most Recommended Law Firms 2025: Unlocking the #1 Source of Law Firm Growth.
Use this report to drive new growth, turbocharge existing growth, and differentiate your firm in an ultra-competitive market.
Order your copy of BTI Most Recommended Law Firms 2025 today – and use it to book even more new business.
Best in the market ahead –
MBR
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