Best Law Firms in the United States for Litigation - Land Use and Zoning

Christian & Small is a multi‐disciplinary regional law firm with a global perspective. Our attorneys serve individuals and established regional, national, and international companies, as well as emerging businesses. Clients rely on Christian & Small for innovative legal services that reflect a deep understanding of the law and their businesses. Our firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, with additional offices in metro-Jackson, Mississippi, and the Alabama Gulf Coast, providing a strategic geographic base from which to serve clients on a statewide basis and throughout the Southeast. Greer B. Mallette serves as managing partner.

ORIGINS

Conner & Winters was organized in 1933 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by John M. Winters, Jr. and Benjamin C. Conner. The young Firm was dealt a temporary setback when, on the day following formation of the partnership, President Franklin D. Roosevelt closed all banks in the nation by executive order, including the Firm's major client. The Firm persevered through this difficult period, and today the bank's successor continues to be a client.

GROWTH

The core activities of the young Firm were initially in banking, real estate, trusts, probate, estate planning, and the rapidly expanding field of oil and gas law. By the end of World War II, the Firm's practice had expanded into litigation; income, estate and gift taxation law; estate planning and corporate finance. During the 1990's, the Firm grew rapidly by acquiring a number of well-qualified attorneys from competing firms. Conner & Winters' Oklahoma City office was opened in 1994, and the Firm's Northwest Arkansas office was opened in Fayetteville in 1995. The Firm has since expanded to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Jackson, Wyoming, Houston and Dallas, Texas, and Washington DC. As a result of its growth, the Firm developed skills in labor and employment, employee benefits, commercial law, corporate and securities, propane, insurance and risk management, and several other areas.

Conner & Winters attributes its diversity of practice and its reputation as one of the region's leading firms to the individual and collective talent of our attorneys and staff. The Firm has been able to attract well-qualified graduates from Ivy League and other nationally prominent law schools as well as important regional and state law schools.

WORK STYLE

Conner & Winters practices the principle that client representation requires a thorough practical understanding of the client's situation - its business, market, products, personnel, strengths and weaknesses. The Firm's interest in its clients is not casual; it is intense. Hard work, independent thought, and practical solutions to problems describe the Firm's work style.

Rutan & Tucker’s highly strategic, forward thinking approach to individual cases and client needs has been the hallmark of the firm since A.W. Rutan opened the law firm in 1955. Rutan & Tucker has enjoyed a leading role in shaping Orange County and California businesses and communities, today standing as the largest full-service business law firm based in Orange County.

Rutan & Tucker represents a broad spectrum of clients, from major multinational corporations and financial institutions to family-owned businesses and private individuals; from high-technology and industrial enterprises to agricultural firms; from real estate developers to governmental agencies, educational institutions, and charities. The firm's practice extends throughout the United States and includes both the representation of foreign companies doing business in the United States and domestic companies engaged in activities abroad.

Our attorneys come from more than thirty law schools nationwide. Many graduated Order of the Coif or Phi Beta Kappa, were the editors of law reviews or held judicial clerkships. The accomplishments of our attorneys reflect the quality of Rutan & Tucker. The firm has provided a president and two members of the board of governors of the California State Bar and six presidents of the Orange County Bar Association. Some of the firm's attorneys teach professional education courses or law school classes. Many hold significant positions in trade, charitable and civic organizations.

The firm's tradition is one of fresh, strategic thinking and going forward, we will continue to make history with a continued commitment to excellence and new thinking for many decades to come.