Best Law Firms in the United States for Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions

More than 900 legal professionals in 26 offices across the country collaborate seamlessly at Barnes & Thornburg to field the right team for you. As one of the 100 largest law firms in the United States, we put our collective experience across legal disciplines to work so you can conduct business in today’s changing marketplace. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com.

Barton LLP, a law firm with offices in New York, California, Tennessee, and Virginia is comprised of an elite team of former partners of “Big Law” who have joined together to create a progressive law firm. To us, legal services are business services, and our attorneys and staff are business-people serving business clients to advance their business goals.

Our mission is to provide our sophisticated corporate, financial services, investment fund and entrepreneurial clients with the highest quality legal services delivered in an effective and efficient manner. We accomplish this because we are an organization that does not follow the traditional multi-layered and leveraged law firm model. We believe that a better product, value and client experience is achieved by providing our clients with highly skilled senior attorneys who work directly on their matters with appropriate support from a strong, but lean team of associate attorneys and staff.

We are committed to developing long-term relationships by partnering with our clients so that we thoroughly understand their organizations, objectives and long-term goals. We offer in-house training programs to our clients and take a proactive approach to reviewing clients’ business practices, contracts and relationships to avoid or reduce the incidents of litigation and risk whenever possible.

Our firm structure and experience allows us to offer a wide array of alternative fee arrangements. We understand that hourly billing is frequently not in our client’s best interest, nor does it necessarily represent the value of our services. Our clients provide their goods and services in a competitive marketplace, and yet they rarely, if ever, use an hourly based pricing model. We know that clients have to manage their resources and create efficiencies to stay within budget – and they want lawyers who are able to do the same.

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. brings innovative, effective, and practical solutions to the complex problems clients face in today’s interwoven and evolving arenas of law, commerce, technology, insurance, education, healthcare, government, and public relations.

Excellent, efficient legal service requires an in-depth knowledge of our clients’ businesses and the challenges they face in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace. With attorneys experienced in a full range of practice areas, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd attorneys work as a member of our clients’ team, providing advice and counsel for a broad range of matters, including general operations, regulatory compliance, corporate organization and governance, mergers and acquisitions, securities, taxation, employment, and litigation.

Admissions include state and federal courts in South Carolina, North Carolina, District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas,  including the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Backed by more than a century of commitment to the businesses it serves, the firm provides clients with the highest level of advice, counsel, and representation covering a diverse array of matters in regional, national, and international settings.

Distinguished in the legal community, firm attorneys have held leadership positions within state and national organizations such as past presidents of the South Carolina Bar, the South Carolina Bar Foundation, and the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association; including serving as board members of the American College of Bond Counsel and past president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL).

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. has more than 110 attorneys and offices located in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, and Greenville, South Carolina, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jones Walker LLP is among the largest 145 law firms in the United States. With offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, and Texas, we serve local, regional, national, and international business interests. The firm is committed to providing a comprehensive range of legal services to major multinational public and private corporations, Fortune® 500 companies, money center banks, worldwide insurers, and emerging companies doing business in the United States and abroad.

Since 2012, The BTI Consulting Group has named Jones Walker to its Client Service A-Team, which identifies the top client service firms in the nation. The firm has previously been named to both the A-Team and BTI's Client Service 30, a list of top 30 firms in the country for dedication to client service. Clients have recognized Jones Walker for consistent excellence in areas such as client focus, anticipating the client's needs, and understanding the client's business.

Formidable. Innovative. Service-oriented. Distinctively Delaware. 

Morris James is a respected Delaware law firm with a long history and a wide reach. Since our doors opened in 1931, we have been committed to providing superior legal representation at competitive rates to the people and businesses of Delaware. Now, we are the counsel of choice for clients worldwide who do business in Delaware.

With a multidisciplinary practice and diverse experience, we can support clients in all their legal needs. Our attorneys offer sophisticated Delaware counsel on complex legal matters, including bankruptcy, corporate law, intellectual property, litigation, mass torts, medical malpractice, personal injury, real estate, and transactionalmatters. Driven by a commitment to excellence for ourselves and for our clients, we are continually expanding our services and enhancing our skills.

Core Values

Our ongoing success is built upon the core cultural values that have propelled us forward for over 90 years.

• Client-Focused: Lawyers and professionals promptly respond to clients, strive to understand and achieve the clients’ goals, and develop and maintain excellent client relationships.
• Teamwork: Whenever appropriate, work is delegated and clients are serviced by teams. We value a work environment where every person’s contribution to servicing clients’ needs and pro bono efforts is fairly recognized and rewarded.
• Work Ethic: Lawyers consistently work hard and recognize there are times when personal sacrifice may be necessary to address clients’ needs. The firm strives, however, to value the desire to devote time to a satisfying and rewarding life away from work, including community involvement.
• Integrity: We value honesty, candor, and ethical behavior, and we enforce those values by holding individuals accountable.
• Lawyering: We value clear thinking, creative and efficient problem-solving, plain speaking, persuasive writing, and adhering to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.
• Mutual Respect: Relationships are respectful, civil, and collegial.

• Diversity: Diversity at all levels of the firm enhances our ability to compete and serve clients.

  Professional Development: Professionals are attracted and retained by providing a work environment characterized by mutual respect, mentoring, skill development, and the level of responsibility each professional demonstrates the ability to handle.

  Decisions: The partners make decisions by striving to arrive at a consensus. Leaders practice what they preach.

Southern Nevada’s dynamic and diverse business and entrepreneurial culture has fostered a complex and distinctive legal environment. Founding partners Jim Pisanelli and Todd Bice have built their practices within this setting and are widely recognized for their courtroom advocacy in both trial and appellate courts, handling complex commercial disputes and high-stakes litigation. Their professional experience includes representing a range of prominent clients, such as Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Nevada Resort Association, Inc., and others.

Our firm is built on the belief that a small, highly professional team with a consistent focus on litigation is best positioned to work closely with a carefully selected client base. This approach allows us to give meaningful attention to each matter and to address the specific goals and concerns of every client. We value thoughtful analysis, practical judgment, and creative problem-solving in our work.

As a boutique firm, we are also able to consider alternative fee arrangements tailored to the circumstances of each engagement. In addition to traditional hourly billing, we are open to flexible structures that reflect shared risk and value. We work collaboratively with our clients to develop an approach that aligns with their objectives and resources.

Smith Hulsey & Busey is a long-established, full-service Florida business law firm. We have a proven track record of sound counsel, innovative problem solving and successful dispute resolution.

Our clients with national and international operations provide us experience in major transactions and dispute resolution throughout the world. As a result, we offer a depth of experience and expertise unparalleled in North Florida. Our clients value being able to obtain the very best legal services from us, with an efficiency not typical in larger firms.

At Taft, we work together across offices and practice areas to help clients address legal and business challenges efficiently and strategically. Our attorneys focus on practical solutions designed to support clients’ goals, whether they are managing day-to-day operations, navigating complex transactions, or resolving disputes.

With more than 1,250 attorneys, Taft serves clients from offices in Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Delaware, Ohio; Aspen, Denver, and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Detroit and Southfield, Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Indianapolis, Indiana; Covington, Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; Stuart and West Palm Beach, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; and Washington, D.C.

Taft represents individuals, privately held businesses, public companies, nonprofits, and institutions across established and emerging industries throughout the United States and internationally.

The firm advises clients in a broad range of practice areas, including:

• Business
• Bankruptcy and Restructuring
• Employment and Labor Relations
• Energy
• Environmental
• Health Care
• Intellectual Property
• Lending and Finance
• Litigation
• Private Client
• Real Estate
• Tax

Since 1885, Taft has remained focused on delivering responsive legal counsel and client service tailored to the needs of businesses, organizations, and individuals.

Affiliated Businesses

Taft attorneys regularly collaborate with affiliated businesses to provide clients with additional consulting and advisory services in a variety of industries and operational areas. These affiliated businesses include:

• Ginovus
• Taft Advisors LLC
• Taft Business Consulting
• Taft Infrastructure Advisors

Through these organizations, clients have access to consulting services related to planning, forecasting, government relations, infrastructure, and public policy matters.

Awards and Honors

Taft and its attorneys have received recognition from legal industry publications and ranking organizations, including:

Main Areas of Practice:

Business: Taft represents public, private, and nonprofit clients in industries including banking, construction, finance, health care, insurance, manufacturing, private equity, real estate, retail, transportation, and utilities. The firm advises clients ranging from emerging businesses to Fortune 500 companies on local, national, and cross-border matters.

Bankruptcy and Restructuring: The firm represents debtors, lenders, creditors’ committees, trustees, suppliers, developers, landlords, buyers, sellers, and other parties in restructuring matters, insolvency proceedings, transactions, and related litigation across multiple industries.

Employment and Labor Relations: Taft advises employers on labor and employment matters, including workplace policies, litigation, labor relations, employee benefits and ERISA compliance, workplace safety, immigration matters, and workers’ compensation issues.

Energy: The firm represents energy providers, utilities, developers, independent power producers, transmission companies, and other participants in the energy sector on regulatory, transactional, and operational matters.

Environmental: Taft handles environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, enforcement matters, environmental due diligence, toxic tort claims, Superfund matters, Brownfields redevelopment, and administrative proceedings before state and federal agencies.

Health Care: The firm advises hospitals, physicians, health systems, research institutions, and medical device, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies on business, regulatory, reimbursement, litigation, employment, and compliance matters.

Intellectual Property: Taft counsels clients on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing, and intellectual property litigation, including matters involving pharmaceuticals, life sciences, software, and internet-related technologies.

Lending and Finance: The firm represents lenders and borrowers in a wide range of financing transactions, including asset-based lending, acquisition finance, mezzanine financing, real estate finance, equipment leasing, regulatory compliance, and consumer financial services matters.

Litigation: Taft represents clients in state and federal courts, arbitration proceedings, and regulatory matters involving commercial disputes, antitrust, bankruptcy, construction, environmental claims, intellectual property, securities, product liability, white collar defense, and other complex litigation matters.

Private Client: The firm advises individuals, families, and business owners on estate planning, wealth transfer strategies, succession planning, trusts and estates, charitable planning, and tax-related matters.

Real Estate: Taft represents clients in matters involving acquisitions, dispositions, financing, leasing, development, land use, construction, property management, and real estate litigation.

Tax: The firm advises corporations, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, joint ventures, and individuals on tax planning, employee benefits, executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, international tax matters, state and local taxation, and tax controversy matters.