When San Francisco trial lawyer Kirk Freeman took on Hewlett-Packard on behalf of an inventor client and got a $6 million-plus verdictlast month, it was his largest in more than 25 years of practice.

Freeman opened his two-lawyer firm in 1985, after three years practicing as an associate at then-Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. His alma mater helped give his practice legs, Freeman said. “I was associated counsel the first year with Pillsbury and got a lot of referrals, so they were very supportive.”