Brand defines who you are to clients. Not who you were. Our research reveals 8 firms who boosted their brand enough to find their way onto the BTI Brand Elite 28—which also has the effect of knocking 8 firms off.
Clients See Changing Brands—Law Firm Brands Become Volatile
Clients rely on 9 attributes to separate one law firm from another, make hiring decisions, and pick and choose who they ultimately work with—and who they don’t. Clients also see brand as volatile. As law firms change and evolve, clients change their views and reset their perceptions of the firm’s brand.
Jones Day Earns Best-Branded Law Firm
The biggest and most notable change is Jones Day taking over as the best-branded law firm. The firm has always been strong but now earns the number-one spot by improving its recognition for client-facing aspects of innovation beyond any other firm. Jones Day earns best-of-the-best in all 9 of the branding attributes which leave the biggest imprint on clients—and their hiring decisions.
Client rankings vaulted 8 other law firm brands onto the BTI Brand Elite 28:
- Cooley—making its debut appearance on the BTI Brand Elite 28 on the strength of its innovation and unprompted recommendations to corporate counsel peers
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore—last appearing on the BTI Brand Elite 28 in 2012, rejoins the BTI Brand Elite as it improved its recognition for being a premium-worthy firm and for innovation
- Dechert—debuts on the BTI Brand Elite 28 by becoming more recognized for bet-the-company work and innovation
- Polsinelli—makes its premiere showing on the BTI Brand Elite 28 for the strength of its dramatic growth in being included on client short lists and earning unprompted recommendations from clients to their peers based on client service
- Ogletree Deakins—joins the BTI Brand Elite 28 as a result of its innovative client service
- Simpson Thacher—the firm tops 3 years of steady increases with its 1st appearance on the BTI Brand Elite 28, with a combination of improved innovation and earning more places on corporate counsel short lists of law firms to be hired
- White & Case—the firm last appeared on the BTI Brand Elite 28 in 2012, with 3-pronged increases in client recommendations to peers, broader recognition for bet-the-company work, and more innovation
- Pillsbury—earns its 1st trip to the BTI Brand Elite 28 by being recognized in all 9 branding attributes for the first time and particularly for innovation in client service.
The Brand Elite 28
Please join me in congratulating the top 28 BTI Brand Elite law firms in the just-released BTI Brand Elite 2017.
|
Rank |
Firm |
|
01 |
Jones |
|
02 |
Skadden |
|
03 |
Dentons |
|
04 |
DLA |
|
05 |
Baker |
|
06 |
Latham |
|
07 |
Cooley |
|
08 |
Wachtell |
|
09 |
Gibson |
|
10 |
Kirkland |
|
11 |
Sidley |
|
12 |
Reed |
|
13 |
Cravath |
|
14 |
Morgan |
|
15 |
Davis |
|
16 |
Sullivan |
|
17 |
Hogan |
|
18 |
K&L |
|
19 |
Dechert |
|
20 |
Polsinelli |
|
21 |
McGuireWoods |
|
22 |
Ogletree |
|
23 |
Greenberg |
|
24 |
Simpson |
|
25 |
Norton |
|
26 |
White |
|
27 |
Seyfarth |
|
28 |
Pillsbury |
You can learn about the detailed changes in your firm’s brand with your copy of the BTI Brand Elite 2017: Client Perceptions of the Best-Branded Law Firms, available now.