The Sector Leadership Index™: Tiering Law Firms by Life Sciences Sector Strength
Law firms frequently describe themselves as “Life Sciences firms” to emphasize desired immersion in the Life Sciences sector. Clients, however, experience meaningful differences in industry fluency, depth, investment, and relevance from one firm to the next.
To bring rigor and clarity to this conversation, I developed the Sector Leadership Index™ (SLI)—a quantitative framework evaluating 265 U.S. and international law firms based on their demonstrated strength in the Life Sciences sector. The SLI reflects how sophisticated Life Sciences clients actually view the market.
Global Life Sciences elite
With that, we celebrate The Global Life Sciences Elite. These 18 firms represent the most advanced Life Sciences platforms in the market. They combine scale, depth, cross-border capability and sustained investment across multiple Life Sciences subsectors. For many sophisticated clients, these firms define the reference standard:
Arnold & Porter
Bartlit Beck
Bookoff McAndrews
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang
Cooley
Covington & Burling
Fenwick
Freshfields
Goodwin
Hogan Lovells
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara
King & Spalding
Latham & Watkins
McDermott Will & Schulte
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
Sidley Austin
WilmerHale
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
global life sciences MARKET leaders
Market Leaders are highly credible, highly visible firms with deep strength in priority Life Sciences subsectors. They compete consistently for complex, high-value matters and often dominate specific segments of the market. These 78 firms include:
A&O Shearman
Allen Matkins
Alston & Bird
ArentFox Schiff
Baker Botts
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz
Baker McKenzie
Ballard Spahr
Bass Berry & Sims
Benesch
Bird & Bird
Brown Rudnick
Butler Snow
Clifford Chance
Cozen O'Connor
Crowell & Moring
Debevoise & Plimpton
Dechert
Dentons
DLA Piper
Duane Morris
Epstein Becker & Green
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner
Fish & Richardson
Foley & Lardner
Foley Hoag
Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Greenberg Traurig
Haynes and Boone
Holland & Knight
Honigman
Hunton Andrews Kurth
Ice Miller
Jackson Lewis
Keller and Heckman
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Kirkland & Ellis
Knobbe Martens
Lathrop GPM
Linklaters
Littler Mendelson
Loeb & Loeb
Manatt Phelps & Phillips
McGuireWoods
Michael Best & Friedrich
Milbank
Mintz
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Morrison Foerster
Nixon Peabody
Norton Rose Fulbright
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart
O'Melveny & Myers
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
Paul Hastings
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Perkins Coie
Pillsbury
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
Rakoczy Molino Mazzochi Siwik
Reed Smith
Ropes & Gray
Saul Ewing
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
Shook Hardy & Bacon
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom & Affiliates
Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox
Taft
Taylor Wessing
Troutman Pepper Locke
Tucker Ellis
White & Case
Winston & Strawn
Wolf Greenfield & Sacks
Life Sciences Growth Platforms
These 89 firms have made intentional investments in Life Sciences and are actively expanding their sector footprint. Many are ascending rapidly through lateral hiring, client wins, and increased market visibility.
Akerman
Akin
Arnall Golden Gregory
Barnes & Thornburg
Blank Rome
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
Bricker Graydon
Buchalter A Professional Corporation
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
Burr & Forman
Carlson Caspers
Chapman and Cutler
Choate Hall & Stewart
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Cole Scott & Kissane
Davis Wright Tremaine
Day Pitney
Dorsey & Whitney
Dykema Gossett
Fieldfisher
Fisher Phillips
Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery
Fox Rothschild
Fredrikson & Byron
Frier Levitt
Frost Brown Todd
Goldberg Segalla
Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum
Goulston & Storrs
Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone
Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
Hamilton Brook Smith & Reynolds
Hanson Bridgett
Harris Beach Murtha
Hooper Lundy Bookman
Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Husch Blackwell
Irell & Manella
Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore
Jackson Kelly
Jackson Walker
Jones Day
Katten
Kelley Drye & Warren
Kobre & Kim
Kutak Rock
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith
Leydig Voit & Mayer
Lowenstein Sandler
Marshall Gerstein & Borun
Mayer Brown
Maynard Nexsen
McAndrews Held & Malloy
McCarter & English
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff
McNeill
Miles & Stockbridge
Moore & Van Allen
Morgan & Morgan
Munger Tolles & Olson
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler
Phelps Dunbar
Proskauer Rose
Pryor Cashman
Quarles & Brady
Robins Kaplan
Robinson+Cole
Rothwell Figg
Seed Intellectual Property Law Group
Seyfarth Shaw
Smith Anderson
Snell & Wilmer
Spencer Fane
Squire Patton Boggs
Steptoe & Johnson
Steptoe
Stinson
Susman Godfrey
Thompson Coburn
Thompson Hine
Venable
Vinson & Elkins
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Wiley
Williams & Connolly
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker
Womble Bond Dickinson
Zuckerman Spaeder
The Seven Elements of the Sector Leadership Index™
The SLI measures Life Sciences sector strength across seven weighted elements. Together, they capture not just reputation, but execution.
Market Presence & Visibility
Evidence of sustained Life Sciences positioning in rankings, media, and thought leadership.Subsector Breadth & Depth
Demonstrated strength across priority Life Sciences subsectors (e.g., biotech, pharma, medical devices, diagnostics, digital health).Talent & Headcount Commitment
Depth of partner- and associate-level investment dedicated to Life Sciences work.Client Engagement & Relevance
Evidence of active representation of Life Sciences companies, investors, and institutions.Investment & Infrastructure
Formal sector teams, leadership roles, budgets, and operational support.Content & Thought Leadership
Quality, consistency, and sophistication of Life Sciences–specific insights and commentary.Go-to-Market Discipline
Evidence of intentional sector strategy rather than incidental participation.
Important Disclaimers (Please Read)
These tiers reflect relative Life Sciences sector strength, not overall firm quality, legal excellence, or prestige.
Firms appear in different tiers due to strategic focus, scale, and investment choices, not merit judgments.
Regional and international firms are evaluated within appropriate competitive contexts, not forced into false equivalencies.
The SLI is designed to mirror client perception, not internal firm narratives.
Methodology Note:
The Sector Leadership Index™ (SLI) evaluates law firms based on demonstrated Life Sciences sector strength across seven weighted dimensions, including market presence, subsector depth, talent investment, client engagement, infrastructure, thought leadership, and go-to-market discipline.
The SLI measures sector maturity and credibility, not overall firm quality or legal capability. Firms are grouped into tiers to reflect relative positioning within the Life Sciences market.
James J. Stapleton is the Managing Principal of Client Sciences and the creator of the Sector Leadership Index and the Client Performance Index. He challenges the way the legal market evaluates expertise, arguing that clients use industry sector expertise as a primary lens into their law firm selection.
After more than three decades building AmLaw 100 law firms and global professional services firms PwC and Arthur Andersen—and advising on over 7,500 law firm/client transitions—Mr. Stapleton now helps law firms communicate their industry credibility and aids clients in cutting through marketing claims to identify firms with genuine sector immersion.
Mr. Stapleton can be reached at 408-440-7660 or james.stapleton@clientsciences.com.
