An array of practice areas has helped law firms in the Midwest shift from representing traditional manufacturing clients to serving businesses needing help with startup tech projects, life sciences, commercial real estate, finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Law firm leaders in Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Kansas City, Missouri, and even Detroit tell us they’re optimistic about their local economies. They also say that with the lower billing rates charged by law firms in the Heartland, they are able to snag legal work that otherwise would land on either coast. Litigation is the one practice area they consistently say is lagging, and energy work, with lower oil prices this year, is also off compared with recent history. Overall, however, the report from the Midwest is positive news.
The legal market in The Second City is in solid shape, due in large part to deal making and transactional work for the area’s deep bench of top public companies and some newer players.
MINNEAPOLIS
Business Flowing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes
Minneapolis’s legal sector is healthy these days, amid a strong local economy and a diverse array of corporate sectors providing law firms with a varied diet of business.
The city of Cleveland is sprucing up for its 2016 Republican National Convention hosting duties, and law firms are getting a cut of the action.
ST. LOUIS
As development spruces up St. Louis and economic conditions brighten, several stalwart industries are directing a steady stream of legal work to area law firms.
Detroit’s emergence from bankruptcy last year and a rebound in automotive and other sectors are producing real estate, corporate and other legal work.
KANSAS CITY
Modest economic growth and new high-technology businesses in Kansas City, Missouri, are funneling corporate and real estate work to local law offices.
INDIANAPOLIS
MILWAUKEE
Better economic times are brewing in Milwaukee with a boost from corporate transactions, commercial real estate deals and startup activity.
The largest offices in the region’s major cities.
