Did you know that 88% of users are unlikely to go back to your website after a bad experience with its web design?
The biggest law firms and companies in Chicago know this, and it’s why they focus on having exceptional website speed for their law firms website. This ensures that potential customers don’t leave out of frustration waiting for the page to load.
Chicago’s legal sector is one of the most competitive and diverse in the United States and serves as one of the primary places for global powerhouses and highly specialized firms, famous for their success rates and deals.
From firms advising Fortune 500 corporations on billion-dollar mergers to trial shops winning precedent-setting verdicts, Chicago’s law firms play a vital role in shaping regulation, justice, and business both in the United States and worldwide.
This list of the top 65 law firms in Chicago showcases the biggest legal companies and gives you an overview of the law firms’ history, their core practices, and unique strengths.
This will not only help you get a glimpse of all the popular firms, but it will also help you understand how good legal company websites look.
Want a new law firm website but don’t know where to start? Let us help.
1. Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis is by far one of the largest and most well-known law firms in the world. They are renowned for their complex corporate transactions, private equity, and high-stakes litigation.
Kirkland frequently represents Fortune 500 companies and is efficient at M&A, restructuring, and intellectual property.
Their website is easy to navigate, which makes finding anything you need quick and efficient.
2. Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin is a full-service international law firm with extensive legal knowledge in transactional law, litigation, and regulatory matters.
They are mostly known for their financial services in healthcare and insurance practices. Their Chicago office is the firm’s main headquarters and has produced many important lawyers and judges over the years.
Their website uses a list system to showcase all of their main services across different industries. This makes it quick to find what you’re looking for.
3. Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins is well known all around the world for their influence over corporate law, energy, and environmental practices.
The firm is also recognized for their corporate finance, M&A, and capital market expertise. Their Chicago office is their hub for corporate and commercial clients who are in need of strategic guidance.
Their website lets visitors learn more about what the law firm has done recently and how they continue to push law boundaries year after year.
4. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Skadden is a global legal company known for its corporate, complex litigation, and M&A practices.
The firm is known for their exceptional work when handling high-profile litigation and regulatory matters, with their Chicago office serving as their main location for Midwest corporate clients.
Their website lets you learn more about them as a law firm and helps you stay up to date with their most recent cases.
5. Jenner & Block
Founded in Chicago, Jenner & Block is a prominent law firm in litigation, appellate advocacy, and corporate law. The firm frequently represents Fortune 500 companies, governments, and nonprofits.
Their website is simple and to the point, which helps visitors find the service and information they need right away without having to search through countless pages.
6. Mayer Brown
Mayer Brown is an international law firm with years of experience in finance, real estate, and litigation. Its Chicago office has a growing reputation in real estate finance and complex business disputes.
The firm is often a part of cross-border deals, regulatory matters, and high-stakes litigation for big international clients.
7. McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott is a full-service firm famous for its work with healthcare, life sciences, and private equity practices.
Their Chicago office is their main branch for advising corporate clients on complex regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters, including tax, ERISA, and intellectual property issues.
Their website showcases what they have done for their clients and how they continue to push for bigger changes year after year.
8. Paul Hasting
Paul Hasting is a global law firm that specializes in corporate law, securities, and high-stakes litigation. Their Chicago office mainly focuses on real estate finance and complex business disputes.
As soon as you enter their website, the law firm greets you with current news about what they have been doing and what services they offer.
9. Winston & Strawn
With a strong Chicago heritage, Winston & Strawn is known for its litigation, bankruptcy, and corporate law. People recognize it for handling complex global issues and serving clients in the Fortune 500 list.
While scrolling down their homepage, you will find all of their important information as well as their recent cases.
10. Ropes & Gray
Ropes & Gray is an international firm known for private equity, asset management, and healthcare law. Their Chicago office focuses on corporate, litigation, and regulatory practices. They also provide sophisticated counsel to major institutional clients and multinational corporations.
Their website is a lead generation machine and is a great example of where to put a search bar so that potential clients can find exactly what they are looking for quickly.
11. Baker McKenzie
Baker McKenzie is a global phenomenon that has deep cross-border capabilities and uses its Chicago office as its main headquarters in the United States to support complex M&A, tax, antitrust, and international arbitration.
Their website uses a unique grid to entice visitors to hover over different areas to explore the firm’s latest articles and cases, which makes it more likely for them to interact and open the blog altogether.
12. DLA Piper
DLA Piper handles complex corporate, tech, and finance work from their Chicago office. Their robust litigation and regulatory practices complement an active global transactions team as well.
Their website is very direct in telling you what they offer and can do as soon as you open their homepage. As you scroll down, you can find useful information like market insights and tariffs you should be looking out for.
13. Katten Muchin Rosenman
Founded in Chicago, Katten is well known for its real estate, finance, and funds work, plus white-collar and complex commercial litigation. Their Chicago office serves as their headquarters for all of their big deals and important cases.
Their website has a unique way of showing their articles and cases by using an accordion-style list which helps visitors click only on the section they’re interested in.
14. Seyfarth Shaw
Seyfarth Shaw is nationally recognized for its labor and employment, workplace strategy, and class action defense teams.
They also offer decades of experience in both real estate and corporate.
Their website serves more as a blog than as a place to book a meeting with them. As soon as you enter, you’re met with their latest cases, awards, and findings, which let you get to know more about them as a law firm.
15. Perkins Coie
Perkins Coie is a full-service platform with notable tech, privacy, and IP depth. Their Chicago office anchors significant litigation, investigations, and corporate capabilities for Fortune 500 and high-growth companies.
Their website is a great example of how a basic and straightforward law firm website should look. They present all of the information you need on their homepage, from finding a lawyer to their insights blog.
16. Taft Stettinius & Hollister
Taft is a fast-growing and popular Midwest law firm that has expanded its offices all over the world. Their Chicago office mainly works on private equity and finance, but they also offer some public law services as well.
Their minimalist website approach is refreshing since it doesn’t overload visitors with blocks of text and information that might make some potential customers leave.
17. Crowell & Moring
Crowell & Moring is a national law firm known for their strong litigation and regulatory DNA. Their Chicago office handles most commercial disputes, government contracts, IP, and investigations for industrials and life sciences.
Their website goes straight to the point by asking the visitor what type of service they are looking for without wasting their time.
18. Arnold & Porter
Arnold & Porter is a law firm that is well known for their exceptional work in regulatory laws, antitrust, and litigation. Their Chicago branch mainly focuses on complex investigations, product liability, and appellate matters.
Their homepage has all the essential website features that helps it go straight to the point. This helps potential clients find exactly what they are looking for in little to no time.
19. Goldberg Kohn
Goldberg Kohn is a respected Chicago mid-market firm with impressive finance, restructuring, and commercial litigation practices.
Their website offers a unique experience by using the scroll-down function as a way to go through their latest success cases in different industries and sectors.
20. McGuireWoods
McGuireWoods is a national legal firm with deep knowledge in private equity, finance, energy, and healthcare.
Their Chicago office is a core part of their sponsor-side deal work and is used to meet with important clients from all over the world.
Their website is simple and sections their “About Us” into 6 handy blocks that help you understand how they operate and what they can do.
21. Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg is an independent Chicago law firm that covers corporate, IP, private wealth, disputes, and real estate.
They are famous for their partner access and their long-term relationships with different middle-market companies.
Their website takes a minimalist approach by only showing 3 of their latest news articles, then instantly showing their services and solutions for clients.
22. Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a law firm known around the world for their strong industry focus, especially in the transport, life sciences, and financial services. Their Chicago office handles most of their big cases regarding complex litigation, insurance recovery, and finance.
Their website makes great use of vibrant colors to draw the attention of visitors without being too in-your-face. This helps direct attention to the sections they want potential clients to look at first.
23. Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig is a massive global law firm with a Chicago office that covers litigation and corporate practices. They are renowned for their trial talent and deal teams across real estate, finance, and private wealth.
Their website sections their news and information into blocks to make it easy to distinguish them from one another. This is a simple but effective way of helping visitors skim through content and find what they are really looking for.
24. Proskauer Rose
Proskauer Rose stands out for its exceptional work in private equity, funds, and sports/entertainment. Their Chicago branch extends the firm’s sponsor-side M&A, finance, and complex dispute capabilities.
Their website starts off with a showcase of their decades’ worth of experience as well as their latest news on both successful cases and insights.
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25. Foley & Lardner
Foley & Lardner is a national law firm with extensive experience and knowledge in the manufacturing, healthcare, and technology sectors. Their Chicago office mainly focuses on handling M&A, IP, and commercial litigation and manages its Midwest client base.
You can instantly recognize the investment in their custom website as soon as you enter Their website offers a unique experience by letting you explore their services based on the sectors they specialize in.
26. Quarles & Brady
Founded in Chicago in 1914, Quarles & Brady is one of the city’s most respected litigation firms. They have an exceptional reputation in white-collar defense, First Amendment law, and complex commercial disputes.
Its IP team in Chicago is consistently involved in patent prosecution and litigation cases, especially for biotech and manufacturing clients.
Their website is well-organized and gives visitors all of the information they need in a simple-to-follow format. This makes it easy to find exactly what they are looking for without any issues.
27. Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath
Faegre Drinker’s Chicago office offers different services ranging from litigation, corporate, and regulatory work. They are also well known for their insurance, health law, product liability, and financial services.
Their website goes directly to the point and shows visitors a search bar that lets them find a professional quickly. This avoids any chance of visitors getting distracted or forgetting why they are there in the first place.
28. Michael Best & Friedrich
Michael Best’s Chicago office mainly focuses on IP, labor and employment, and corporate law. It frequently advises tech startups, manufacturing companies, and consumer brands on different issues, such as protecting and commercializing innovations.
As you enter their homepage, you can notice how long it took to design their website. Their page is simple and is mainly used to showcase their awards, accolades, and insights, which help build credibility and trustworthiness.
29. Vedder Price
Vedder Price’s Chicago headquarters is well known for its extensive work on finance, transportation, and corporate practices, especially when it comes to aviation. The firm consistently represents airlines, lenders, and lessors in high-value aircraft transactions all over the world.
Their website showcases all of their recent deals and success stories in an organized way for visitors to learn more about what the law firm has been doing recently.
30. Smith Gambrell & Russell
Smith Gambrell & Russell is recognized for its litigation strength, especially in insurance coverage, commercial disputes, and transportation law.
Their website is a good example of how to organize a homepage into sections while keeping everything cohesive and easy to follow.
31. Much Shelist
Much Shelist is a legal company that offers real estate, litigation, and corporate services to middle-market companies and entrepreneurs worldwide. Their Chicago branch is known for its client-focused and relationship-driven approach as well as its business succession planning experience.
Their website is simple and doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. This isn’t a bad thing at all; on the contrary, for law firms, it can be risky to try to make a website that is different and dares visitors to explore more.
32. Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella
Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella is a full-service Chicago firm that handles a multitude of corporate transactions, litigation, real estate, and private client matters. They also have decades of experience in the banking, automotive, retail, and nonprofit sectors.
Their website uses neutral colors to keep the overall look and feel of the website professional, which is complemented by neutral images and hero banners.
33. Troutman, Pepper & Lord
Troutman, Pepper & Lord is a famous law firm with one of its largest offices in Chicago. They are strong in insurance, financial services, real estate, and public finance. They are constantly representing insurers, lenders, and municipal clients in various cases such as complex transactions and regulatory affairs.
Their website uses a creative carousel approach on their homepage to showcase their latest news, which will instantly draw the attention of any visitor. Their smart use of colors also helps guide visitors to the sections that truly matter.
34. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius is a full-service law firm with an office in Chicago that has labor & employment, litigation, and financial service capabilities. They often support class actions, securities, and complex deals with clients all over the world.
Their website features a simple but effective block style homepage that helps section news, services, and their about us page into one cohesive homepage.
35. Jones Day
Jones Day is a law firm giant with decades of experience in litigation and investigations with clients all over the world. Their Chicago office mainly handles their antitrust, restructuring, and major corporate matters.
Their website is simple and provides an insider view of all the recent success stories, as well as insights on new market trends and news.
36. Dentons
Dentons is one of, if not the biggest law firms in the world by headcount alone. Their Chicago hub is their key office for North American clients and teams for corporate, litigation, and real estate that serve different multinationals and mid-market companies alike.
Their website is mainly used as their news outlet and place where you can learn more about trends, reports, and guides.
37. Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Willkie Farr & Gallagher is a respected law firm with a Chicago office that specializes in private equity, insurance transactions, restructuring, and high-stakes litigation for blue-chip corporations and sponsors.
Their website captures the corporation-focused approach by using neutral colors and providing information that is tailored to those sectors.
38. Chapman & Cutler
Chapman & Cutler is a world-renowned finance-centric firm that specializes in asset securitization, public finance, and banking. Their Chicago office is the main hub for capital markets and structured products.
As soon as you enter their homepage, you’re met with a minimalist website that expects you not to scroll all the way down. This means that all of the information you need, you’ll find as soon as you scroll down a bit.
39. Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg
Barack, Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg is a boutique-scale law firm that offers services for financial institutions, auto, retail, and real estate.
Their website is very direct and to the point by not letting visitors scroll down and instead just leaving them with two links that they can use.
40. ArentFox Schiff
ArentFox Schiff is a combination of Arent Fox and Schiff Hardin. This law firm has deep Chicago roots in litigation, product liability, real estate, and construction.
Their website is a great example of how an organized law firm website looks. It showcases their latest news and analysis articles first, then goes through their industry teams right after.
41. Husch Blackwell
Husch Blackwell is a law firm with an industry-focused model that mainly focuses on healthcare, education, and energy. Their Chicago teams handle most of their investigations, labor, and commercial litigation cases.
Their website uses a block approach that helps them direct attention to the areas they want visitors to focus on the most. This makes it faster for potential clients to find the services and information they need.
42. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP)
BCLP is a transatlantic firm with decades of experience in real estate, corporate, and litigation cases. Their Chicago office mainly supports cross-border deals and large-scale commercial disputes from clients all over the world.
Their website is a good example of how to use a video on a hero banner to draw the attention of visitors as soon as they arrive.
43. Barnes & Thornburg
Barnes & Thornburg is a full-service business law firm with a Chicago office that handles white-collar, IP, labor, complex business litigation, and sponsor-side deals.
Their website is straightforward by directly asking the visitor what they are looking for. This helps potential clients find what they need without having to go through multiple pages first.
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44. K&L Gates
K&L Gates is a global platform known for its funds, fintech, and commercial disputes. Their Chicago branch mainly focuses on multiple trials, IP, and financial services.
Their website follows the same pattern as other websites on this list by showcasing their biggest accolades and awards first, then going into other news and services.
45. Thompson Coburn
Thompson Coburn is a full-service firm representing transportation, manufacturing, and higher-ed clients. Their Chicago office mostly handles their class actions and IP matters.
Their website mainly focuses on promoting their expertise by showcasing their latest trend reports and analysis documents before even showing their services.
46. Cozen O’Connor
Cozen O’Connor is a litigation-focused national firm with strong insurance, subrogation, and commercial disputes. Their Chicago branch works on all of these services and is active in labor, real estate, and corporate.
Their website is similar to others on this list, where it aims to showcase the law firm’s expertise in different industries while also providing an easy way to learn about their services.
47. Hinshaw & Culbertson
Hinshaw & Culbertson is a Chicago-rooted firm that is well known for its insurance defense, professional liability, healthcare, and commercial litigation across the Midwest.
Their website represents the type of law firm they are and how they manage clients. They also provide directions to every office across the country in links.
48. Clark Hill
Clark Hill is a national law firm that specializes in labor and employment, corporate, and litigation services. Their Chicago office advises clients from different industries in financial services.
Their website is very simple in what it wants to achieve, which is to inform visitors about their values and how they help clients with their problems.
49. Marshall, Gerstein & Borun
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun is an IP boutique with deep knowledge in life sciences and medical devices. Their Chicago litigation team and prosecutors mainly handle their complex biotech and software matters.
Their website shows visitors all of the important information they need to know without having to scroll at all.
50. Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila (RSHC)
RHSC is a litigation and investigation firm with a diverse and extensive trial bench. Their Chicago branch handles all their complex commercial, class actions, and governmental inquiries.
Their website uses an extremely minimalist homepage that only showcases their biggest awards. This forces visitors to use the dropdown menu if they want to learn more about the law firm.
Get a Converting Law Firm Website With Blacksmith
After going through this list of the top 50 law firms in Chicago, it’s easy to see how important Chicago law firms are for companies all over the world.
But how do they handle dozens of clients and showcase every week? With a great website, of course.
You can use any of the websites from this list as inspiration for your own website, but creating a website is no quick project. It takes weeks, if not months, to fully create a website; this is without adding ongoing maintenance to the list.
That is time you could spend finding new clients and working on current cases.
So now, what?
That’s where we come in. Here at Blacksmith, we are law firm website experts with several custom websites under our belts.
As a web design agency in Chicago, we have a group of seasoned web designers ready to provide professional law firm web design services and build a custom law firm website for you. Having a great website helps drive conversions and new potential clients to you.
Not completely sure if investing in a new law firm is what your Chicago law firm needs?
Don’t worry, click here to schedule a call with us and we will provide you with a free audit. With it, we will be able to show you the areas of your business that are making you lose clients and what we can do to help you fix them.
