Birmingham Big Law Forum

[rasputinmoney]

Can anyone speak to the big law market in Birmingham?

I'll be starting at Bama soon and was curious how attorneys who worked in Birmingham did versus, say, Houston.

I choose Bama for the zero debt factor and it being the second best school I was accepted too.

Appreciate any feedback.

[Anonymous User]

Bradley Arant is very well regarded. I am not based in Alabama but have worked a number of times with Bradley as local counsel and they are wonderful.

[crazywafflez]

Bradley Arant is good, Lightfoot is good. Adams Reese is another one- Baker Donelson also.

[Anonymous User]

Maynard Cooper is trying to expand and recently sent a Birmingham associate to SCOTUS

[Anonymous User]

Not in Birmingham myself but practice in the southeast and have worked with the local firms on matters and have multiple friends who practice in Birmingham. Maynard Cooper, Bradley, Balch, Baker Donelson, and Burr & Forman are the top "big" general practice firms in town that offer the opportunity for good work across multiple practice areas. Of these, Maynard Cooper has the most sophisticated practice overall IMO. My sense is that Maynard, Bradley, and Burr are more corporate focused and Baker and Balch are more of litigators. Balch also has a strong practice around utilities and regulatory work, if that interests you. Someone earlier mentioned Adams and Reese, but I have never heard anything about them in the Birmingham market in terms of who the players are. If you are set on litigation, I'd add Lightfoot to that mix. It's not BigLaw (even by Birmingham standards) but is as close to an elite litigation boutique as you can get in town and does some neat work, particularly with appellate stuff.

[Anonymous User]

MCG has great, great people. Don't expect a walk in the park hours-wise (have heard top performers in transactional are putting in 2600+), and expect a substantial amount of rate pressure and salary compression. The trade-off is that, for well-liked, busy associates, partnership is a more achievable prospect than elsewhere.

[Anonymous User]

Not in Birmingham myself but practice in the southeast and have worked with the local firms on matters and have multiple friends who practice in Birmingham. Maynard Cooper, Bradley, Balch, Baker Donelson, and Burr & Forman are the top "big" general practice firms in town that offer the opportunity for good work across multiple practice areas. Of these, Maynard Cooper has the most sophisticated practice overall IMO. My sense is that Maynard, Bradley, and Burr are more corporate focused and Baker and Balch are more of litigators. Balch also has a strong practice around utilities and regulatory work, if that interests you. Someone earlier mentioned Adams and Reese, but I have never heard anything about them in the Birmingham market in terms of who the players are. If you are set on litigation, I'd add Lightfoot to that mix. It's not BigLaw (even by Birmingham standards) but is as close to an elite litigation boutique as you can get in town and does some neat work, particularly with appellate stuff.

Anon because of personal detail. I agree with the above and agree with the comment to add Lightfoot (litigation) to this list. I am from the region and interviewed at these Birmingham firms but ended up going with Houston. These are great law firms, but note that the pay is not "big law" and the lawyer headcount is not "big law." In this sense, Alabama does not have big law. I do not know what the bham firms pay exactly, and it may differ from firm to firm, but when I was looking at summer gigs, the pay at bham firms for summer associates was less than half of the pay at Houston firms. Also, the cost of living in bham is lower than Houston but not by enough to justify the difference. That said, Alabama is a wonderful law school and debt free makes the lower salary quite a lot more manageable. I found that the people who had choices and took Birmingham over alternatives like Texas or Atlanta just really couldn't imagine themselves living anywhere else as they loved Birmingham so much. You will probably work similar if not the same hours as you would in true big law. Imo if you end up making good grades and can pick Texas or ATL, do that.

[LegalComedian]

Not in Birmingham myself but practice in the southeast and have worked with the local firms on matters and have multiple friends who practice in Birmingham. Maynard Cooper, Bradley, Balch, Baker Donelson, and Burr & Forman are the top "big" general practice firms in town that offer the opportunity for good work across multiple practice areas. Of these, Maynard Cooper has the most sophisticated practice overall IMO. My sense is that Maynard, Bradley, and Burr are more corporate focused and Baker and Balch are more of litigators. Balch also has a strong practice around utilities and regulatory work, if that interests you. Someone earlier mentioned Adams and Reese, but I have never heard anything about them in the Birmingham market in terms of who the players are. If you are set on litigation, I'd add Lightfoot to that mix. It's not BigLaw (even by Birmingham standards) but is as close to an elite litigation boutique as you can get in town and does some neat work, particularly with appellate stuff.

Anon because of personal detail. I agree with the above and agree with the comment to add Lightfoot (litigation) to this list. I am from the region and interviewed at these Birmingham firms but ended up going with Houston. These are great law firms, but note that the pay is not "big law" and the lawyer headcount is not "big law." In this sense, Alabama does not have big law. I do not know what the bham firms pay exactly, and it may differ from firm to firm, but when I was looking at summer gigs, the pay at bham firms for summer associates was less than half of the pay at Houston firms. Also, the cost of living in bham is lower than Houston but not by enough to justify the difference. That said, Alabama is a wonderful law school and debt free makes the lower salary quite a lot more manageable. I found that the people who had choices and took Birmingham over alternatives like Texas or Atlanta just really couldn't imagine themselves living anywhere else as they loved Birmingham so much. You will probably work similar if not the same hours as you would in true big law. Imo if you end up making good grades and can pick Texas or ATL, do that.

Birmingham market is $160k for first years and Bradley, Baker Donelson, & Maynard all have 600+ headcounts. Bradley is AmLaw 106 or 107, Maynard not far behind (esp post merger w/ Nexsen) and Baker Donelson hovers right around 100. It's as BigLaw as you'll find in any midsize market

[butonawednesday]

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