Editor’s Note

I have a couple of friends coming into town next week from the Bay Area. Well, next week will become a couple of weeks ago by the time this issue hits the streets.

They’re stopping by on their way to the Indy 500, which I understand is an automobile race that isn’t NASCAR, so I guess it’s some sort of elite race. What brought this to mind is that (1) I met one of these friends my first week of college — so, we’ve known each other for 45 years, something I still can’t believe, and (2) more to the point, my friends have practiced law together their entire career, through three firms, including one collapse and one merger, which has them now in the San Francisco office of Reed Smith.

They became friends during their first year at Boalt Hall in Berkeley, once known as the law school none of the rest of us could get into, and now known as the law school that provides employment to the odious John Yoo.

In any event, these two guys have been drinking buddies, friends, and law partners over a span of 41 years, which is incredible — even more so in today’s climate. As noted in the introduction to our eighth annual largest law firm survey, Dan Webb, Tom Cole, and Jim Holzhauer have made their very successful careers in one firm, so a hats-off and a couple of beers to my old friends John Siamas and Carl Stoney, and all the rest of you lawyers who have stuck with it through all the ups and downs of a long career. Good on you.

And speaking of hats-off, Chicago Lawyer’s Maria Kantzavelos received the CBA’s Herman Kogan Media Award in the legal trade reporting category on May 8, for her profile of the Criminal Courts Building at 26th and California. Maria spent more than a week walking through the building, sitting in on trials and hearings, and interviewing everyone from Presiding Judge Paul Biebel to the sheriff’s deputies who escort defendants to and from the jail. The story appeared in our November 2007 issue. Congratulations, Maria, for a great story and a terrific award.

As is pretty obvious by now, this is our Largest Law Firm Survey issue and, in addition to the endless charts tracking partners and associates, we have some interesting stories for you. Maria has written a profile of Yvonne Ocrant, a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson who has built her own practice in equine law, based simply on her love for horses and her immersion in the world of competitive riding. The story starts on page 48.

Assistant editor Olivia Clarke brought in firm leaders from Reed Smith, DLA Piper, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, and Drinker Biddle & Reath for a round table discussion on the issues that lead firms to merge and the issues created by the mergers. It starts on page 34 and takes on a myriad of management and practice issues.

Olivia also takes a look at the new positions law firms are creating to bring more focus to their concerns about diversity, pro bono efforts, and professional development, starting on page 56.

Maria closes out the feature well with a story on the marketing of law firms, starting on page 64. There’s a lot more to the whole process of projecting a law firm’s identity, and the thinking behind the process, than most readers (including me) realize.

In our columns this issue, Shermin Kruse, an associate at Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg, returns to write ”Climbing the Ladder,” talking about her fears upon getting the ball tossed to her for the first time — ”figure out how to win this case” — and how to proceed to do just that. Sher’s column is on page 31.

We’ve done one story in the magazine, and a number in the Daily Law Bulletin on the looming crisis in mandatory CLE requirements, and now David Heilmann of Clausen Miller takes his slightly skewed look at the dreaded July deadline. Read what Dave has to say about it all on page 47.

Arin Reeves’ column, ”Diversity in Practice,” takes on the idea of gender-neutral standards, starting with the NBA and moving to the world of law firms. Arin is always challenging us to think in new ways, and this month’s column, which starts on page 16, is no exception.

— Robert Yates