4 Firms Lead Pack In Legal Skills

By James Armstrong

Law360, New York (November 16, 2009) -- All law firms pride themselves on their legal skills, but a handful of firms — Baker Botts LLP, Foley & Lardner LLP, Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis LLP — mark the cream of the crop in terms of deft lawyering, according to a new report.

The report by the BTI Consulting Group Inc. (Wellesley, Mass.), which interviews corporate counsel for annual rankings, this year found four firms were the best of the best in terms of legal skills, the most important activity clients demand of their law firms.

Baker Botts, Foley & Lardner, Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis all landed at the top of the list for their superior legal skills, measured in terms of expertise, experience and outcomes.

Closely following the top four were a number of firms designated “Leaders of the Best” in legal skills: Alston & Bird LLP, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, DLA Piper, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, O'Melveny & Myers LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP.

Clients looking for top legal skills want not just raw understanding, but also firms that skillfully apply their knowledge and take an appropriate approach to clients' legal needs, said Michael B. Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting.

“Legal skills are tremendously important, but you need to be able to apply those legal skills,” Rynowecer said. “Knowing how and when to apply those skills matters to clients.”

One thing all of the top-ranked firms have in common is they devote a lot of resources to developing and honing their legal skills, the report said.

That means they have to recruit raw talent and then continually help attorneys to refine their skills to meet client needs, according to BTI.

Jones Day has a head of recruiting who looks for new lateral hires and recruits top students out of law school, firm partner John M. Majoras said.

While a head of recruitment is helpful, the firm relies quite a bit on its own partners when it comes to recruiting, Majoras said.

Attorneys already at Jones Day are always on the lookout for lawyers who would do well in the firm's culture, he said.

“One of the real testaments to your career is who did you bring in,” Majoras said.

Once the firm has made a new recruit, training begins almost from the time the lawyer gets in the door, he said.

Continuing legal education is a priority for the firm, according to Majoras, who said he was just in Pittsburgh teaching a CLE class.

Clients have become more demanding over time, and firms have to ensure they never get complacent, he said.

Jay P. Lefkowitz, a senior litigation partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis, echoed that sentiment.

Kirkland offers a number of in-house CLE programs and its attorneys participate in outside programs, as well, Lefkowitz said.

Many of Kirkland's programs in the litigation area focus on getting bright young lawyers trial-ready, he said, and the firm recruits on a number of law school campuses every year and then gives potential litigators extensive training culminating in a mock trial.

The firm goes to great lengths to make the experience authentic, sometimes hiring actors to serve as witnesses and jurors, Lefkowitz said.

In order to rise above the rest, Kirkland does not just give attorneys training in their own fields, it also tries to foster cross-discipline cooperation, as a client's legal needs might require lawyers with various legal skills all on the same team, he said.

“Our lawyers are counseling clients, and clients don't always have needs that fit neatly in one category or the other,” Lefkowitz said.

Baker Botts, meanwhile, spends a great deal of time trying to understand a clients' business inside and out, both in terms of the issues a company has to deal with now and the issues that might arise in the future, said Maria Wyckoff Boyce, partner in charge of the firm's Houston office.

That often means providing specialists that can deal with complex matters, and having specialists in different fields work together, Boyce said.

“On complex tax matters, our corporate lawyers and our tax lawyers will routinely team up,” she said. “In intellectual property disputes, our patent lawyers will team up with our litigators to make sure we have people who are highly knowledgeable working on the case.”

While each of Baker Botts' six firmwide departments has its own CLE programs, attorneys are encouraged to attend programs in other departments if it will help them to better understand their clients' needs, according to Boyce.

The firm also encourages partners to write articles and speak at top CLE programs nationwide, Boyce said, adding that she published an article on intellectual property damages in fall 2008.

Clients want solution-based advice from their counsel, not just academic advice, said J. Terence O'Malley, U.S. managing partner for DLA Piper.

That is one of the reasons his firm has organized its attorneys into sectors focused around certain industries, such as aerospace, banking, energy, hospitality, life sciences, technology and transportation, O'Malley said.

“We believe that the first principal of client service is to understand your client's business,” he said. “That allows our lawyers to integrate their legal expertise with the practical solutions their clients need.”

In addition to mastering requisite legal skills, lawyers need to develop the broader perspective, confidence and client service ethic required to counsel clients appropriately, said Arthur B. Culvahouse, chair of O'Melveny & Myers.

“We focus on training and mentoring programs designed to not only fulfill the continuing legal education and career development needs of lawyers at all levels, but also to develop distinctively well-rounded and talented lawyers,” Culvahouse said.

According to James D. Pagliaro, a firm managing partner at Morgan Lewis, clients should expect outstanding legal services, but during the recent economic downturn, value has also been important.

“Our relationships are typically long-term relationships,” Pagliaro said. “We have to be lean ... but legal skills are always first and foremost, and quality is job one.”