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Best Midsize Law Firms to Work For
Associates at midsize law firms assessed their own firms on a range of workplace issues related to career development, job satisfaction, and quality of life. Vault's 2022 Rankings are derived from Vault's Annual Associate Survey conducted from March 2021 through May 2021.
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2022 Best Midsize Law Firms for Hours
#1
McNeill Baur, PLLC
Focused on patents in the life sciences area, McNeill Baur is home to nearly 20 lawyers as well as a team of patent agents, patent prosecution coordinators, and technical specialists. The firm assists clients with all aspects of patent prosecution as well as patent opinions, due diligence investigations, patent appeals, and USPTO proceedings. Lawyers at the firm also consult on clients’ IP portfolios. The firm values work-life balance, with lawyers crafting their own work plan and billable-hour goals.
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SCORE 9.182
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#2
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.
Robinson Bradshaw is a presence in the Carolinas, where it has deep roots. The firm specializes in corporate and commercial law, particularly complex corporate transactions and litigation. Robinson Bradshaw prides itself on its collaborative work style—unlike many of its peers, it eschews a billable-hours requirement so that lawyers can focus on the work itself rather than the compensation generated from the work.
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SCORE 9.000
2021 Ranking #6
#3
Tonkon Torp LLP
The reach of Oregon-based firm Tonkon Torp extends far beyond its home state. The firm has represented some of the largest and most influential companies in the world, including Portland General Electric, sneaker giant Nike, and real estate mammoth Blackstone. Attorneys at Tonkon Torp cover a full range of practice areas, including bankruptcy, corporate, cannabis, employment, environmental, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and tax. Best Lawyers in America® named six Tonkon attorneys as 2019 Portland Lawyers of the Year.
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SCORE 8.917
2021 Ranking #10
#4
Caplin & Drysdale
Caplin & Drysdale boasts one of the nation's top tax practices and consistently places as one of Vault’s Best Law Firms for Tax Law. National and international rankings list Caplin & Drysdale’s tax practice alongside those of firms 10 and 20 times its size. But the firm has more than tax expertise, with top-tier practices in litigation, political law, and more. The firm takes pride in providing top-notch legal services while maintaining a small size that allows for close client relationships.
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SCORE 8.889
2021 Ranking #11
#5
Buckley LLP
Buckley focuses on financial services, government enforcement, and litigation. The firm’s client roster includes 26 of the largest consumer banks in the U.S., yet associates enjoy work-life balance with a relatively low billable-hour requirement.
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SCORE 8.880
2021 Ranking #22
#6
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
Farella Braun is a Northern California firm equipped to handle complex business transactions and disputes. The firm not only has a top-notch renewable energy practice, but it was also a law firm leader in becoming certified as a Green Business. As a regional firm with a national reach, Farella represents multinational corporations, privately owned entities, exempt organizations, and individuals in business transactions and complex litigation.
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SCORE 8.864
2021 Ranking #7
#7
Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP
With its one and only location in Los Angeles, Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP is a full-service firm with nearly 100 lawyers. Among the areas the firm covers include bankruptcy, corporate, entertainment, environmental law, and private wealth services. The firm is well known for its work in the entertainment sphere. You'll probably recognize a few of these client names: James Cameron, Vin Diesel and One Race, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Cruise, Riot Games, the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, Marvel Entertainment, and the estate of Bob Marley.
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SCORE 8.818
2021 Ranking #3
#8
Bookoff McAndrews PLLC
Bookoff McAndrews is a leading patent boutique in Washington, DC. As Vault’s No. 1 Best Midsize Law Firm to Work For, associates rave about their experience working here—from the amazing culture to the high-level work they tackle. Since opening its doors in 2012, BoMc has grown to more than 35 attorneys and has attained nationwide recognition for its work with high-profile clients, including high-tech startups and Fortune 500 companies.
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SCORE 8.773
2021 Ranking #8
#9
Pryor Cashman LLP
The beginnings of Pryor Cashman are consistent with its strongest practice today: The firm was founded as an entertainment law boutique firm. With locations in New York, LA, and Miami, the firm has brushed legal shoulders with some of the biggest icons in pop culture, including Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake, and others, though the firm has morphed into a full-service firm that serves mid-market clients in nearly every way.
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SCORE 8.714
2021 Ranking #20
#10
Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP
Litigation boutique Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell is known for going to trial nationwide and winning on behalf of its Fortune 500 clientele. The high-profile clients who have received WTO's much sought-after litigation expertise come from a wide range of industries—such as manufacturing, telecommunications, energy, and services—and include Whirlpool, General Electric, Michelin, CenturyLink, USAA, FCA (formerly known as Chrysler Group), Ford, AT&T, Pfizer, Allstate, McKesson, Electrolux, Mercedes-Benz, and Vail Resorts, among others.
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SCORE 8.583
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#11
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Operating out of two offices in Massachusetts, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP is a northeast staple. A full-service, midsize firm, Nutter has around 150 lawyers working across a dozen industries. Lawyers at Nutter bring a host of experience in such areas as corporate, IP, labor and employment, litigation, privacy and data security, private client, public policy, real estate, and tax. The firm’s catch phrase is enough to set it apart from the competition: “uncommon law.”
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SCORE 8.571
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#12
Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP
At just over 50 attorneys, Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery is an intellectual property firm with a global reach. Fitch Even clients hail from around the world and are a diverse bunch. Client include individuals, small business, start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, universities, hospitals, venture capital firms, and research institutions. Originating from the Windy City, the firm now has five offices coast-to-coast. The firm also has a strategic alliance with Wood IP LLC, a minority- and veteran-owned IP firm in Washington, DC.
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SCORE 8.556
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#13
Stotler Hayes Group LLC
Stotler Hayes is a boutique law firm with a national presence and a unique identity. Not only is the firm entirely remote (save for an office in South Carolina for support staff), it has a client base comprised solely of health care providers, including long term care and skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, group homes, acute and sub-acute hospitals, and durable medical equipment providers. Not only do the firm's practices all relate to health care, but the firm emphasizes the health of its own employees through a variety of wellness initiatives.
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SCORE 8.533
2021 Ranking #18
#14
Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C.
AZA is a top litigation boutique located in Houston, Texas, providing expertise to both plaintiffs and defendants. Though it tackles disputes of any kind, IP and energy are some of the most frequently occurring subject matters in its caseload.
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SCORE 8.385
2021 Ranking #14
#15
Downey Brand LLP
With offices in California and Las Vegas, Downey Brand serves the region’s clients in a number of practice areas and industries. Those seeking environmental law will find their interest piqued by the firm’s prominent natural resources group, which works in such areas as air quality, environmental enforcement defense, environmental remediation, land use, and water law. The firm also serves as outside general counsel for many of Northern California’s leading companies, including privately held and family-owned companies, nonprofits, and publicly traded companies.
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SCORE 8.333
2021 Ranking #25
#15
Durie Tangri LLP
Since opening its doors, Durie Tangri has had a hand in a number IP cases establishing new precedent and other high-profile cases beyond the IP world. At just under 40 lawyers, it represents some big names, including Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yelp, Fitbit, Zynga, Netflix, Microsoft, and Facebook. Durie Tangri is not only a top IP and litigation boutique, it’s also a firm where associates report a high satisfaction. They give the firm high marks in such discrete areas as associate/partner relations, technology, culture, training, and more.
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SCORE 8.333
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#15
Smyser Kaplan & Veselka, LLP
Founded in 1995 in Houston, Texas, Smyser Kaplan & Veselka is a litigation boutique with just under 30 attorneys. The firm’s practice includes commercial disputes, white collar, energy, intellectual property, healthcare, and securities. The firm is known for litigating high-profile matters to trial but also skillfully steers cases to arbitration when necessary. Among Smyser Kaplan & Veselka’s clients are Shell Oil Company, Michael’s Organization, Celotex, Visa, Quantlab Financial LLC, BNSF Railway Company, and BHP Billiton Petroleum.
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SCORE 8.333
2021 Ranking #2
#18
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
Neal Gerber serves clients from a single office in Chicago, with practices in intlellectual property, litigation, business, and private wealth. The firm has a diverse client base, with a few notable examples including AOL, Beats Electronics, Citigroup, Hyatt, Illinois Tool Works, Match.com, Northern Trust, Polaroid, and United HealthCare. When they aren't working on billable matters, the firm's attorneys are proud to dedicate time to pro bono and community service throughout the Second City.
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SCORE 8.304
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#19
Kobre & Kim LLP
Kobre & Kim is a global law firm focused exclusively on international disputes and investigations, often involving allegations of fraud or misconduct. Founded by two former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors in 2003, Kobre & Kim has organically grown to more than 400 employees who work out of offices in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the U.S., and the Caribbean. The firm has developed a strong reputation as a go-to firm for complex cross-border dispute resolution.
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SCORE 8.278
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#20
Kuchler Polk Weiner, LLC.
Kuchler Polk Weiner is a women- and minority-owned litigation boutique with offices in New Orleans and Houston. Around 30 attorneys strong, the firm packs a small but mighty punch, with companies like Exxon Mobil and Ford Motor among its clientele. Founded in 2009, the firm is majority-woman owned, with four of the five equity and founding partners being female.
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SCORE 8.231
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#21
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
Premier Chicago intellectual property firm Marshall, Gerstein & Borun advises a diverse client roster made up of Fortune 500 corporations, startups, small to mid-sized companies, nonprofits, universities, research institutions, and independent inventors in its specialty areas of patent, trademark, and copyright protection and litigation. Located in Chicago’s Willis Tower, the firm is an enduring part of both Chicago’s skyline and the IP legal landscape.
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SCORE 8.143
2021 Ranking #13
#22
GableGotwals
As one of the largest firms in Oklahoma, with approximately 100 attorneys divided among two offices, GableGotwals has made its mark on the states’ legal market in more ways than one. The firm has grown above and beyond its humble beginnings in 1944, now touting clients that range from Fortune 500 corporations and well-known foundations to entrepreneurs and privately owned companies. Although GableGotwals’ primary practice is in litigation and business transactions, the firm’s attorneys focus on dozens of practice areas.
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SCORE 8.105
2021 Ranking #Not Ranked
#23
Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP
Carter Ledyard is a midsize firm that has had its hand in a number of high-profile matters in the Big Apple and beyond. The firm's Gateway to America program extends the firm's reach by offering legal counsel to corporations in countries such as Israel, Canada, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland that want to conduct business in the U.S. Junior associates thrive here, receiving ample one-on-one partner contact and the ability to dabble in different practice areas.
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SCORE 8.000
2021 Ranking #23
#23
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff is an intellectual property law firm with offices in Illinois and California. The firm's client list includes Fortune 100 companies, midsize companies, startups, and academic institutions. MBHB attorneys are experienced in the procurement, licensing, enforcement, and defense of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and unfair competition actions in a number of technological disciplines and product categories, including biotechnology, business methods, chemical, electrical, mechanical and materials, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, software, and telecommunications.
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SCORE 8.000
2021 Ranking #16
#25
Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP
A leading Texas firm, Kelly Hart is entrenched in the city of Fort Worth, both headquartered there and serving notable Fort Worth clientele like the entrepreneurial Bass family, Justin Brands, Anne W. Marion and the Burnett Companies, American Airlines, Pier 1, and BNSF Railway. As the firm has grown, so has its client list, which includes additional Fortune 500 companies, individuals, investor groups, and governmental entities from around Texas and the nation.
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SCORE 7.960
2021 Ranking #16
