After nine years, Sanford Heisler founding partner David Sanford believes the public-interest law firm has reached the point where "we believe we can do anything we want to do."

The firm scored major wins last year, including a $99 million settlement in a nationwide wage-and-hour class action and a share of a $762 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a whistleblower case against biotechnology company Amgen Inc.