Researchers for US City Elite are now available

Submissions should be concise and focus on what makes your practice stand out.

Commercial Disputes

What does this practice area cover?
Commercial Disputes is a broad disputes category covering complex business-to-business litigation and arbitration matters. The category typically includes contract disputes, shareholder and partnership disputes, fiduciary duty claims, fraud allegations, business torts, and other disputes arising from commercial relationships and corporate operations. It also encompasses significant procedural and trial-related matters, including injunction proceedings, appellate litigation, and arbitration work.
Depending on the jurisdiction and the structure of the local rankings, the category may also include antitrust disputes and product liability matters, although these may appear as standalone practice areas in larger or more specialized markets.

What would make a highly-ranked attorney here?
Highly ranked attorneys in this category are typically recognized for handling sophisticated and high-value disputes, particularly matters involving substantial commercial exposure, complex factual records, or trial and arbitration proceedings. Strong candidates often demonstrate experience acting for major corporations, handling disputes across multiple jurisdictions, and advising clients in heavily regulated or technically complex industries. Trial capability, strategic litigation management, and involvement in nationally significant matters are particularly valued.

Corporate M&A

What does this practice area cover?
Corporate M&A focuses on transactional business law matters involving the formation, acquisition, sale, financing, restructuring, and governance of companies. The category includes public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, venture capital investments, joint ventures, corporate reorganizations, outsourcing arrangements, commercial contracting, and broader corporate advisory work.
The category is centered on transactional execution and strategic business advisory work for corporate clients across a range of industries and markets.

What would make a highly-ranked attorney here?
Highly ranked attorneys are typically recognized for leading complex or high-value transactions involving sophisticated corporate structures, cross-border elements, or significant financing considerations. Experience advising large corporate clients, private equity sponsors, institutional investors, and multinational businesses is particularly valued. Lawyers handling transactions across multiple industries, especially matters involving regulatory complexity or strategic market significance, are often viewed favorably.

Intellectual Property

What does this practice area cover?
Intellectual Property covers both contentious and non-contentious legal work involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing arrangements, and intellectual property portfolio management. The category includes patent litigation and prosecution, trademark disputes, copyright enforcement, trade secret litigation, and broader advisory work concerning the protection, commercialization, and management of intellectual property assets.
In jurisdictions with particularly active intellectual property markets, the rankings may be divided between Intellectual Property: Contentious and Intellectual Property: Non-contentious in order to distinguish litigation-focused practices from transactional and advisory practices.

What would make a highly-ranked attorney here?
Highly ranked attorneys in this category are generally recognized for advising on sophisticated intellectual property matters involving significant technologies, high-value portfolios, or market-leading clients. Strong candidates often demonstrate experience handling complex patent or trademark disputes, technically advanced subject matter, cross-border intellectual property issues, and matters involving major technology, life sciences, media, or consumer product companies. Experience across both contentious and strategic advisory work is also viewed favorably.

Real Estate

What does this practice area cover?
Real Estate covers a broad range of transactional, advisory, and disputes-related legal work involving commercial property and development matters. The category typically includes acquisitions, dispositions, leasing arrangements, financing transactions, land use and zoning issues, development projects, construction-related real estate matters, and public housing work.
The practice area may encompass both regional and national work, depending on the scale of the market and the nature of the client base.

What would make a highly-ranked attorney here?
Highly ranked attorneys are generally recognized for advising on significant real estate transactions, large-scale development projects, and matters involving complex financing structures or multiple stakeholders. Work involving landmark properties, major commercial developments, infrastructure projects, or nationally recognized clients is particularly valued. Experience navigating regulatory, zoning, land use, and transactional complexity is also an important consideration.

White-Collar Crime

What does this practice area cover?
White-Collar Crime covers criminal and regulatory matters involving allegations of fraud, corruption, corporate misconduct, financial crime, and related enforcement activity. The category includes internal investigations, criminal defense work, regulatory inquiries, enforcement proceedings, and compliance-related matters involving both corporate entities and individual executives.
Representations may involve federal, state, or international enforcement authorities, including prosecutors, regulatory agencies, and financial regulators.

What would make a highly-ranked attorney here?
Highly ranked attorneys in this category are typically recognized for handling high-stakes investigations, significant enforcement proceedings, and matters involving substantial reputational or financial exposure. Experience acting for prominent corporate clients, senior executives, or public figures is particularly valued. Lawyers with strong trial capability, government investigations experience, and involvement in nationally prominent or sensitive matters are often viewed especially favorably.

To send your submissions to us, please visit submissions.legal500.com and follow the onscreen prompts to send us new documents.

If you do not have login details or have problems accessing submissions.legal500.com, please get in touch to request details via help desk, filing a request under the “Login details – submissionsl” category.