Alston & Bird LLP
01 April 2007
With 49 experts featured in 18 chapters, Alston & Bird LLP boasts the largest contingent of attorneys and a breadth of excellence unequalled by any other firm in the state. We therefore pick Alston & Bird LLP as the leading firm in Georgia.
Alston & Bird LLP in Who's Who Legal: Georgia
The firm dates back to 1893 with Alston Miller & Gaines’ predecessor firms, with significant growth through mergers such as the tie-up with Jones Bird & Howell in December 1982, when the firm rebranded as Alston & Bird. Further mergers with North Carolina firm Bell Seltzer Park & Gibson in 1997, and New York’s Walter Conston Alexander & Green in 2001 followed.
This strategy has been an undeniable success. Alston & Bird currently has more than 700 attorneys in five offices around the US. Participants in our research were unstinting in their praise across a range of areas - “it is undeniably one of the finest firms in the country” – just one quote to sum up the general tenor of the responses.
Sources paid tribute to the firm’s culture, which has been rewarded with a ranking among Fortune magazine’s ‘100 best companies to work for’ for the eighth consecutive year. In 2007 it was the highest-placed law firm on that list.
The firm’s client list is “indisputably impressive”, including companies such as UPS, Verizon Wireless, Wachovia, BellSouth and Delta Air Lines.
As demonstrated by its presence in all but two of the practice areas we profile in this book, Alston Bird is rated highly across a range of disciplines. The firm is worldwide intellectual property counsel for the NASCAR, and has three lawyers in our Patent and Trademark chapters.
A closer look reveals the firm’s stature in the local market. It fields more leading lawyers in Banking, Competition, Corporate Governance, Corporate Tax, Environment, ERISA and Insurance than any other firm, and is also particularly well represented in Insolvency, M&A and IP. Alston & Bird sets a high standard in the overall voting, with an impressive showing of five partners in the Corporate Governance chapter and four representatives in the ERISA chapter. The firm was picked out for its representation of Duke Energy during a federal grand jury investigation into the propriety of certain accounting treatments in its filings with state regulatory commissions. Sidney Nurkin was described as “unquestionably one of the most knowledgeable corporate lawyers in Atlanta”. In ERISA matters, the firm has represented clients such as Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific and Wachovia in ERISA litigation.
The outstanding performance of certain individuals should also be acknowledged. Alston & Bird partners are favoured by our sources in four separate practice areas. Lee DeHihns ranks at the head of the environment research, as does special counsel to the firm, Neal Batson, in Insolvency and Restructuring. Batson is renowned internationally for his appointment by the US Department of Justice as the examiner for Enron Corp, he is “one of the best, not just in Georgia, but worldwide”, according to a source. The firm also has Kevin Grady, one of the most nominated practitioners in the competition research.The team has experience representing clients of the stature of Nokia, T-Mobile USA, UPS and Verizon Communications.
Competitors and clients alike spoke of Alston & Bird in the most positive of terms. One appraisal sums up the firm’s reputation: “In the depth of their expertise and the heights of excellence they reach, I would rate them number one.”
To see more profiled firms from Georgia, vist the Firm Profiles page in the Georgia Special Report