100 Top Startup Law Firms (2024)
Helming a startup without legal counsel can be like playing snakes and ladders with blindfolds. You might get lucky but it is definitely not recommended. A good law firm can guide you in registering your company, complying with regulations, and onboarding executives and investors. Some can even introduce you to investors if they specialize in venture capital law.
So, to help you with this choice, we have compiled a list of top venture capital law firms. We will also go over why startups need assistance from law firms. Startups can, at times, make mistakes in choosing law firms. So, we will cover some common mistakes in choosing law firms as well.
Startup Law Firms
A founder’s job is never-ending, from securing funding to determining product-market fit. When most founding teams are ready to take investors’ checks, they must start considering their legal needs.
Establishing and financing your business with the help of an experienced startup law firm can significantly impact your future ownership and management of the company.
Key Characteristics of Top Startup Law Firms
Superior startup law firms set themselves apart with a few essential traits essential to meeting startups’ shifting needs. Here is a clear overview of these characteristics:
Niche experience with startups
The top startup law firms are highly skilled at handling legal issues unique to startups. Startup-focused firms offer a “one-stop shop” for legal services, which becomes significant when a company expands.
These companies are familiar with the normal startup lifecycle, which includes the seed stage, funding rounds, and potential exit. They also know about the unique legal challenges that startups in these industries encounter, like obtaining patents, managing contracts unique to their industry, or adhering to health and safety laws that are particular to the companies.
Complex venture capital deals and initial public offerings (IPOs), essential for businesses seeking to develop quickly, are frequently among their areas of competence.
Responsiveness
An efficient legal firm’s organizational structure and cutting-edge legal technology enable it to respond swiftly to client needs. Prominent law firms allocate resources towards cutting-edge case management solutions, including artificial intelligence, to optimize document analysis and litigation administration.
They use cutting-edge legal tech tools to monitor any legal changes that might impact the startup’s activities. They also establish efficient communication protocols, such as secured client portals for fast document exchange and updates.
Adopting technology allows them to deliver fast advice and contract evaluations during fundraising rounds and other time-sensitive transactions.
Genuine interest in the venture
When a legal firm actively participates in helping a company map out its business model and expansion strategy, it demonstrates genuine interest.
Top startup law firms may use in-house-developed analytical tools to evaluate competitive environments and market situations, providing customized guidance that supports the business’s long-term goals.
They frequently take an active role, helping to connect startups with angel investors and VCs and thus growing their network in the investing sector.
Business savvy
Strong business-savvy lawyers are frequently those who have been entrepreneurs themselves or have handled operational positions in businesses. They have a useful grasp of startup dynamics and company operations from this direct experience.
In addition to offering strategic counsel on introducing new goods and services to the market, they are experts in drafting agreements to minimize their tax consequences.
Because of their commercial expertise, they can help businesses handle challenging talks with partners and investors, ensuring that legal solutions support key business goals.
Common Legal Needs of Startups
Startup law firms provide essential support across various legal domains crucial to a startup’s growth and operational success:
- Formation & Structure: Law firms require assistance in establishing business entities, and suitable structures (LLC, Corporation) for liability protection and tax efficiency. They also require handling incorporation filings, licensing requirements, and governance frameworks essential for legal compliance.
- Funding & Investment: They seek expertise in investment agreements and fundraising strategies. Startup law firms assist in negotiating term sheets, managing convertible notes, and conducting 409A valuations to determine fair market value, ensuring regulatory compliance and investor confidence.
- Equity & Ownership: Managing equity ownership is essential, and law firms build shareholder agreements, implement stock option plans, and provide advice on tax implications like 83(b) elections. These measures by the law firms optimize ownership structures and align incentives while adhering to corporate governance standards.
- Ongoing Legal Support: Continuous legal support is required for startups navigating daily operations. From drafting contracts and reviewing to intellectual property protection (patents, trademarks, copyrights), startup law firms safeguard business interests and comply with dynamic regulatory frameworks.
- Scaling & Exits: As startups scale up their operations or contemplate exit strategies, law firms facilitate mergers and acquisitions (M&A), initial public offerings (IPOs), and corporate restructuring. They navigate complex transactions, regulatory filings, and due diligence processes, positioning startups for growth or successful exits.
How Law firms help with (international) Expansion for Startups?
Startup law firms are essential to your business’s ability to expand internationally since they provide specialized services that cover several important areas:
- Expansion Model: Law firms help startups choose the right business model for entering international markets. This can be selecting the right corporate structure to optimize tax benefits and operational efficiency. For instance, they might advise on setting up a subsidiary, a branch, or entering a joint venture, depending on your startup’s business goals, the legal environment of the target country, and other considerations.
- IP Protection: For IP protection, law firms conduct detailed due diligence to ensure that your startup’s intellectual property is not only registered but also enforceable in each target country. This can be conducting a global IP audit, securing patents in jurisdictions identified as key markets or where IP infringement risks are high, and managing a portfolio covering renewal timelines, statutory requirements, and enforcement mechanisms across different countries.
- International Contracts: When drafting international contracts, law firms ensure they adhere to the United Nations CISG and local commercial laws, which govern the sales between parties based in different countries. They handle complex clauses on jurisdiction, dispute resolution (e.g., arbitration agreements), and compliance with international trade laws such as those related to sanctions and export controls.
- Regulatory Compliance: Law firms offer specialized compliance audits to ensure that startup activities align with local laws and international standards, focusing on antitrust or competition laws, environmental regulations, and anti-corruption policies. They also provide ongoing monitoring and reporting tools that help startups stay updated with regulatory changes, such as those related to the digital economy, consumer protection laws, and sector-specific guidelines (e.g., fintech regulations).
- Global support and connections: Law firms use their vast networks to help introduce clients to important stakeholders in the international market, including local distributors, partners, government agencies, and consultants with specialized business knowledge. Additionally, to assist startups in understanding market trends and entrance strategies, they could collaborate with foreign trade groups. Law firms connect companies with foreign banking services for smooth financial transactions and cross-cultural marketing agencies for branding and promotion.
How to Choose the Right Startup Law Firm
There are several important factors to consider when ensuring the legal firm you choose fits your company well. How can you make the most of this decision-making process? Follow these steps.
You can choose the right startup law firm based on the following factors:
- Experience: Since startups are high-growth, high-risk entities, they face issues different from legacy companies. So, startups need to choose law firms that have experience in dealing with similar businesses. Additionally, you should also inspect if the law firm has experience in a variety of areas, such as regulations, intellectual property laws, securities laws, taxation, and dispute resolution through litigation.
- Ability to handle high-growth periods: Typically, as a business grows, it expands in scale and geographically. Some might even change their corporate structure. Since startups have a high growth rate, such changes happen more often than with other businesses. Hence, your startup will need a law firm that can handle high-growth periods.
- Cost: Needless to say, you should minimize your legal costs. Legal costs can stack up to substantial amounts. So, you will need a law firm with reasonable rates. This need not be the main factor to consider, but it still is an important factor. If you can find a law firm that accepts payments in installments rather than lump sums, that would be ideal.
100 Top Startup Law Firms List
| Firm Name | Global 200 Rank | Am Law 200 Rank | NLJ 500 Rank | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland & Ellis LLP | #1 | #1 | #3 | Chicago, IL |
| Latham & Watkins LLP | #2 | #2 | #4 | Los Angeles, CA |
| DLA Piper LLP | #3 | #3 | #1 | New York, NY |
| Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | #6 | #5 | #16 | New York, NY |
| Sidley Austin LLP | #7 | #6 | #10 | Chicago, IL |
| Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP | #10 | #7 | #13 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Ropes & Gray LLP | #11 | #8 | #20 | Boston, MA |
| White & Case LLP | #8 | #9 | #7 | New York, NY |
| Dentons | #5 | N/A | N/A | Chicago, IL |
| Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP | #9 | #10 | #11 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Hogan Lovells | #15 | #11 | #6 | Washington, D.C. |
| Jones Day | #14 | #12 | #9 | Cleveland, OH |
| Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP | #20 | #13 | #22 | New York, NY |
| Greenberg Traurig, LLP | #19 | #14 | #8 | Miami, FL |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP | #17 | N/A | N/A | New York, NY |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | #21 | #15 | #5 | Houston, TX |
| Goodwin Procter LLP | #18 | #16 | #15 | Boston, MA |
| King & Spalding LLP | #22 | #17 | #24 | Atlanta, GA |
| Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP | #32 | #18 | #32 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Cooley LLP | #23 | #19 | #21 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | #26 | #20 | #31 | New York, NY |
| Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP | #28 | #21 | #44 | New York, NY |
| McDermott Will & Emery LLP | #27 | #22 | #23 | Chicago, IL |
| Mayer Brown LLP | #25 | #23 | #12 | Chicago, IL |
| Sullivan & Cromwell LLP | #30 | #24 | #65 | New York, NY |
| Holland & Knight LLP | #33 | #25 | #17 | Tampa, FL |
| Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | #29 | #26 | #26 | New York, NY |
| Paul Hastings LLP | #31 | #27 | #40 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Covington & Burling LLP | #34 | #28 | #27 | Washington, D.C. |
| Milbank LLP | #46 | #29 | #58 | New York, NY |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP | #39 | #30 | #31 | Washington, D.C. |
| WilmerHale | #42 | #31 | #45 | Boston, MA |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP | #38 | #32 | #36 | New York, NY |
| Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP | #40 | #33 | #39 | San Francisco, CA |
| Reed Smith LLP | #37 | #34 | #19 | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati | #41 | #35 | #33 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP | #49 | #36 | #62 | Washington, D.C. |
| Debevoise & Plimpton LLP | #43 | #37 | #61 | New York, NY |
| Morrison & Foerster LLP | #47 | #38 | #37 | San Francisco, CA |
| Dechert LLP | #45 | #39 | #50 | Philadelphia, PA |
| K&L Gates LLP | #51 | #40 | #14 | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Proskauer Rose LLP | #48 | #42 | #70 | New York, NY |
| Perkins Coie LLP | #52 | #43 | #35 | Seattle, WA |
| Winston & Strawn LLP | #54 | #44 | #63 | Chicago, IL |
| Foley & Lardner LLP | #57 | #45 | #41 | Milwaukee, WI |
| Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP | #61 | #47 | #46 | Washington, D.C. |
| Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP | #59 | #49 | #54 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Troutman Pepper | #56 | #51 | #38 | Philadelphia, PA |
| McGuireWoods LLP | #64 | #52 | #56 | Richmond, VA |
| Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP | #66 | #53 | #76 | New York, NY |
| Vinson & Elkins LLP | #70 | #54 | #75 | Houston, TX |
| Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP | #67 | #55 | #49 | Minneapolis, MN |
| O'Melveny & Myers LLP | #62 | #56 | #71 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Baker & Hostetler LLP | #72 | #57 | #47 | Cleveland, OH |
| Seyfarth Shaw LLP | #73 | #59 | #59 | Chicago, IL |
| Polsinelli PC | #77 | #60 | #48 | Kansas City, MO |
| Shearman & Sterling LLP | #71 | #62 | #90 | New York, NY |
| Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP | #76 | #63 | #70 | Richmond, VA |
| Venable LLP | #85 | #64 | #68 | Washington, D.C. |
| Fenwick & West LLP | #80 | #67 | #105 | Mountain View, CA |
| Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP | #79 | #68 | #80 | New York, NY |
| Baker Botts LLP | #78 | #70 | #82 | Houston, TX |
| Littler Mendelson, P.C. | #91 | #74 | #30 | San Francisco, CA |
| Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. | #95 | #78 | #100 | Boston, MA |
| Husch Blackwell LLP | #104 | #82 | #64 | Kansas City, MO |
| Crowell & Moring LLP | #100 | #84 | #85 | Washington, D.C. |
| ArentFox Schiff LLP | #112 | #87 | #91 | Washington, D.C. |
| Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP | #113 | #88 | #53 | Winston-Salem, NC |
| Williams & Connolly LLP | #115 | #89 | #123 | Washington, D.C. |
| Nixon Peabody LLP | #106 | #90 | #91 | Boston, MA |
| Davis Wright Tremaine LLP | #117 | #91 | #89 | Washington, D.C. |
| Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP | #120 | #95 | #129 | New York, NY |
| Fish & Richardson P.C. | #118 | #96 | #150 | Boston, MA |
| Locke Lord LLP | #123 | #97 | #95 | Dallas, TX |
| Steptoe & Johnson LLP | #134 | #98 | #119 | Washington, D.C. |
| Ballard Spahr | #125 | #99 | #93 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Dorsey & Whitney LLP | #133 | #100 | #98 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Kramer Levin | #136 | #104 | #141 | New York, NY |
| Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP | N/A | #107 | #122 | Redwood City, CA |
| Loeb & Loeb LLP | #139 | #108 | #118 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP | #148 | #109 | #163 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Snell & Wilmer LLP | #159 | #112 | #110 | Phoenix, AZ |
| Bracewell LLP | #175 | #120 | #153 | Houston, TX |
| Foley Hoag LLP | #177 | #125 | #145 | Boston, MA |
| Thompson Hine LLP | N/A | #146 | #137 | Cleveland, OH |
| Wiley Rein LLP | N/A | #149 | #177 | Washington, D.C. |
| Kelley Drye & Warren LLP | N/A | #152 | #169 | New York, NY |
| Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP | N/A | #153 | #244 | New York, NY |
| Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP | N/A | #157 | #131 | Columbus, OH |
| Shutts & Bowen LLP | N/A | #165 | #151 | Miami, FL |
| Robinson & Cole LLP | N/A | #173 | #182 | Hartford, CT |
| Morrison Cohen LLP | N/A | N/A | #327 | New York, NY |
| Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C. | N/A | N/A | #342 | Boston, MA |
| Zuckerman Spaeder LLP | N/A | N/A | N/A | Washington, D.C. |
| Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C. | N/A | N/A | N/A | Newport Beach, CA |
| Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP | N/A | N/A | N/A | Washington, D.C. |
| Silicon Legal Strategy | N/A | N/A | N/A | San Francisco, CA |
| ZwillGen PLLC | N/A | N/A | N/A | Washington, D.C. |
| Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP | N/A | N/A | N/A | Atlanta, GA |
| Woodcock Washburn LLP | N/A | N/A | N/A | Philadelphia, PA |
10 Top Startup Law Firms
In this section, we will review the top 10 law firms according to Vault, and see what makes them a top law firm.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
At the top spot, we have Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, a law firm founded in 1819 by Richard Blatchford in New York City. They currently have offices in New York, Washington DC, and London.
The law firm offers its services right from the startup formation stage to liquidity events like mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings (IPOs). In addition to supporting fundraising and liquidity events, they also offer guidance related to public reporting, intellectual property rights, and regulations.
One of their major victories in recent times came in December 2023 when they successfully defended Epic Games against Google in an antitrust trial. Some of its other high-profile clients include Robinhood, ODDITY, Elon Musk, and Route Mobile.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, also referred to as simply Wachtell Lipton, is a law firm operating from New York that was founded in 1965.
The law firm has been known for trendsetting high-profile cases right since the 1980s. Some of their notable victories came in cases like Corwin vs. KKR Financial. They are also experienced in cross-border deal litigation.
In addition to litigation, they also offer legal counsel regarding takeover defense, shareholder activism, and corporate governance. They are known to advise financial institutions in internal investigations and crisis management. They have defended companies like AOL, Vulcan Materials, and Lionsgate against shareholder activism.
In May alone, they have represented clients in cross-border transactions worth more than $4 billion. In the same period, they represented clients in domestic transactions worth more than $24 billion.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Founded on April Fools’ Day in 1948, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, or simply Skadden, lands at the third spot. They currently have 21 offices across the United States, Asia, and Europe.
They have extended their services to companies from industries like outsourcing, sports, gaming, energy, media and entertainment, and aerospace, defense, and government contracting.
They have offered legal counsel and representation to companies like Bank of America, Capital Group Companies, and Connell Limited Partnership in matters relating to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and 401(k) plans.
Skadden has teams focusing on Web3 and digital assets, and artificial intelligence (AI). Some of their clients involved in digital assets include Coinbase, Yuga Labs, and Maker Ecosystem Growth Foundation. Their AI-related clients include entities acquiring or investing in AI companies, AI model and tool developers, and the owners of AI-training content and data.
Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins was founded in 1934 in Los Angeles and currently has offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
They are known to provide legal counsel to emerging companies and their investors. In 2022, they were named the Start-up Firm/Emerging Company Law Firm of the Year by Law.com.
Their founding partner, Dana Latham, served as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under President Eisenhower. They currently boast more than 100 lawyers worldwide who provide tax-related guidance and legal representation.
Latham & Watkins are also known to represent clients in intellectual property litigations, from district courts to the International Trade Commission (ITC). They have represented clients in disputes over copyrights, trademarks, and even trade secrets.
Sullivan & Cromwell
Sullivan & Cromwell is a law firm that was established in 1879 and currently operates in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia via 13 offices.
They describe themselves as business lawyers first, as opposed to lawyers who focus on major corporations but also serve startups. In addition to fundraising, they provide legal counsel to startups regarding regulations, intellectual property rights, and competition laws.
They have supported the financial services industry for quite some time and are currently leveraging this experience to serve fintech clients involved in things like facilitating payments, developing blockchain and distributed ledgers, and enabling lending marketplaces.
They also help investors strategize and execute transactions right from the seed funding rounds. Law360 has named them the M&A Group of the Year nine times since 2013. Some of their clients include American Express, Booking Holdings, ConsenSys, Deutsche Börse, Goldman Sachs, and Kering.
DLA Piper LLP
DLA Piper is an international law firm with offices in more than 40 countries. Based on revenue, it ranked as the third-biggest legal company in the US in 2021.
Three law firms—Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP in San Diego, Piper Rudnick LLP in Baltimore, and DLA LLP in the United Kingdom—merged to establish DLA Piper in January 2005. It comprises two partnerships: DLA Piper International LLP, located in the United Kingdom, and DLA Piper LLP (US), located in the United States. The two partnerships are set up as Swiss Vereines and have a single global board.
The company helps with business consultations on mergers and acquisitions, personnel decisions, commercial transactions, litigation, insurance plans, real estate, IT, intellectual property (IP), and restructuring plans.
With its Aldersgate Digital Ledger Solutions (DLS) group, DLA Piper ventured into the digital sphere in 2023 by introducing TOKO, a blockchain-based tokenization platform.
Sidley Austin LLP
With more than 2,300 attorneys throughout 21 offices, Sidley is a major force in law firms worldwide. The firm has a long list of well-known clients in various industries, from energy to financial services, healthcare, insurance, life science fields, sports and the media, and technology.
The firm has an extensive group of former officials from European, American, and Chinese government agencies, which supports the firm’s work in complex commercial and litigation problems. The firm also has outstanding regulatory expertise.
Sidley has represented many clients, including startups and Fortune 500 corporations. The firm’s principal focus areas include capital markets, environmental law, life sciences, energy, litigation, restructuring, Supreme Court and appeal, securities enforcement and regulation, white collar and governmental investigations, and M&A and private equity.
Ropes & Gray LLP
Ropes & Gray is a global firm specializing in cutting-edge work and providing excellent customer service. It has 13 offices throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. The company consistently ranks at the top of the legal industry rankings and has experience helping clients in highly regulated, complicated areas like technology, asset management, healthcare, and life sciences.
The firm has also received general recognition, most recently being named to The American Lawyer’s “A-List” and honored as the “Law Firm of the Year” in 2022.
The company has been awarded the title of Private Equity Practice Group of the Year by Law360 seven times. With over 200 attorneys dedicated to their practices, the firm helps private equity clientele with financing, acquisitions, and compliance issues, among other things.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Lewis was founded in 1873 in Philadelphia by Charles Eldridge Morgan, Jr. and Francis Draper Lewis.
The firm’s strong suits are the fields of litigation, energy, investment management, complex transactions, labor and employment, intellectual property, and litigation.
The firm has grown beyond its initial clientele on the East Coast and currently represents over 90% of the Fortune 100, all while preserving relationships with its past clients.
Morgan Lewis attorneys handle energy-related regulatory matters in addition to all aspects of energy transactions, including development, financing, acquisition, and resource disposal. The company has expertise in managing electricity, nuclear, renewable energy, and oil and gas affairs.
In FY 2023, Morgan Lewis devoted over 115,883 hours to pro bono work for over 2,100 clients. The firm’s attorneys logged a minimum of 20 hours of pro bono work, with an average of about 66 hours per attorney.
Hogan Lovells
Hogan Lovells is a British-American law firm with offices in London and Washington, DC. The merger of Lovells, a British legal company, with Hogan & Hartson, an American law firm, established the present-day firm in 2010. The firm was the sixth-largest legal firm in the world as of 2022, with over 2,500 lawyers working for it.
Hogan Lovells earned around $2.6 billion in 2022, making it the eleventh biggest legal firm globally in terms of revenue. Attorneys earn more than $1 million annually. According to Hogan Lovells, their areas of expertise include government regulatory, litigation, corporate, finance, IP assets, commercial litigation, and arbitration.
Together, the attorneys at this firm devote over 150,000 hours annually to pro bono work, primarily focusing on the rule of law and access to justice. Lawyers from Hogan Lovells often take on high-profile cases that end up in the nation’s highest courts as part of their pro bono work. One such case was the respondents’ appeal of a voting rights decision to the Supreme Court.
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