The Injury Litigation Blog

Facts and Opinions.
Feel free to disregard the opinions.

The Largest Law Firms in Baltimore Serve Businesses

By Byron Warnken

If you are an attorney or otherwise sophisticated in the law or business, you read the headline above and say, “Duh.”  Of course the Baltimore’s biggest law firms serve businesses.  Same is true everywhere for that matter.

But not everyone knows this simple fact.  Law firms and lawyers are arguably far more important to individuals than they are to corporations.  But for the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks, law firms cater to business – that’s where the money is.

It’s important for those hurt in an accident to get it.  There are an army of lawyers ready to go after you, not quite as many ready to shield you in your time of need.

Of Baltimore’s 25 largest law firms, only three are generally designed around serving individuals.  These include Peter Angelos’s firm, Steve Silverman’s firm, and Sid Friedman’s firm.  Only Peter Angelos’s firm really only represents individuals.

Granted, quite a few of these largest Baltimore firms serve individuals in that it’s wealthy individuals who own wealthy corporations.  The wealthy and their business interests can seldom be completely separated.  Therefore, a number of these large firms have high-end estate planning practices and/or wealthy individual tax practices.

Of the 25 biggest firms in Baltimore, there were 1,536 total lawyers in the Baltimore area offices.  Only 136 of them worked at the firms that primarily serve individuals.  

More astonishing – the big firms employ, in all, 9,746 lawyers in all offices.  Only 144 of these nearly 10,000 lawyers worked at the firms that primarily serve individuals.  1.46% of all the attorneys work with firms that primarily serve individuals.  Wow.

Of the 15 largest firms, almost half have a concentration in insurance defense.  The seventh largest firm is primarily a workers’ compensation defense firm.  The 13th largest has a huge presence in workers’ compensation defense.  There isn’t a single firm handling workers’ compensation for claimants.  (Peter Angelos’s office might have a lawyer or two doing claimant workers’ comp.)  Not one of our list of workers’ compensation lawyers in Maryland is on the list of largest firms.

Of the top 50 firms in Baltimore, only two are personal injury firms.  Peter Angelos’s firm and Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins.

I’d like to credit Baltimore Business Journal for the list of largest Baltimore firms.

I have numerous opinions on the above.  I will let the facts speak to you however you deem fit, though.

The Judiciary is for Sale in My America??

By Byron Warnken

I’ve always been close to the legal profession.  My father is a lawyer and a full-time law professor.  My mother is also a lawyer.  So is my sister.  I do hate to admit it, but I have a naive sense of the role of justice in our society. I believe that the courts stand above. […]

Legal Publishing is Changing

By Byron Warnken

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court is now the publisher of its own opinions.  The official publisher. For someone without some knowledge of the industry, this statement may seem pedestrian.  But for people who know the role that companies like West and Lexis play in the legal world, it’s revolutionary.  It’s now no longer difficult to see a […]

Should Tort Reform Include Capping Insurance Company Profits?

By Byron Warnken

I’m not sure exactly why businesses suggest we need tort reform.  I think a large part of the thinking revolves around insurance premiums being so high.  Premiums are so high.  The cost of lawsuits is so substantial. I think that’s what they talk about. I am a person who likes to make sense out of […]

24% of Legal Consumers DO NOT research a lawyer online

By Byron Warnken

A leading market research firm – The Research Intelligence Group – released a study last fall on how legal consumers find lawyers.  Other legal marketing and publishing companies have referenced the study, highlighting the fact that 76% of consumers in the United States who sought as lawyer used the Internet.  I do not find that […]

Who visits InjuryLawyerDatabase and what do they want to know?

By Byron Warnken

InjuryLawyerDatabase.com expects to generate much of its web traffic from Internet search engines.  There is early evidence the expectation will be met.  In the last three months, InjuryLawyerDatabase.com has seen 1,481 different search terms bring visitors to the site.  Some search terms have brought hundreds of visitors, many only one. Broadly, the searches fall into […]

What is InjuryLawyerDatabase.com and who benefits?

By Byron Warnken

The following video talks about why InjuryLawyerDatabase.com exists. Who Benefits? The Injured Prospective clients need information.  Those injured in an accident, victims of malpractice or other negligence, or those hurt at work have a lot of questions and uncertainty about where to turn for answers.  Depending upon the severity of the injury, hiring an attorney […]

Attorney Listings

By Byron Warnken

A question lawyers have for us: What should I include in my listing? It’s important to recognize that while statistics – real, provable data – is what has drawn visitors to this site and to your listing, stats are only a part of the equation.  The relationship you will form with your client begins with […]

Unbiased Lawyer Reviews

By Byron Warnken

There are numerous problems with “unbiased lawyer reviews.”  Some of the problems are related to unbiased, some to lawyers, and some to reviews.  Put them all together and unbiased lawyer reviews are nearly impossible in practice.  Let’s work backwards. Reviews The Internet has taught us how problematic reviews are.  In essence, anyone can leave a […]