The Best of the Best 2000

Reprinted from: Euromoney Legal Media Group

01.2000

The Best of the Best 2000 Methodology

The 2000 Guide to The Best of the Best is the first international guide identifying specifically the world's leading 20 practitioners across these 12 areas of law. It is also the 57th in a series of practice area guides designed primarily for individuals who require access to the most elite practitioners in specific areas of law for the purpose of instruction on an international basis.

To ensure the credibility of this publication, Euromoney Legal Media Group commissioned the research department to carry out an in-depth study of experts in the following fields of law: banking; competition and antitrust; energy and natural resources; information technology; insolvency and restructuring; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; media and entertainment; patent; project finance; securitization; and tax.

The initial stages of the research involved distributing more than 24,000 questionnaires to in-house counsel and to private practitioners in over 60 countries. The questionnaires asked leading figures to nominate those lawyers they considered among the most capable in these fields of law. The results were analyzed and screened for firm, network and alliance bias.

Researchers then met with a number of acknowledged leading experts. Their considered views were solicited in a number of interviews held in major legal centres worldwide, including: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Singapore. Using data collated from the returned questionnaires and the interviews, we compiled a preliminary list of individuals who had been most highly recommended in the world. As a final verification, this list was discussed with a select group of advisers.

-Stephen Mulrenan

Fred Bartlit is best described as "personally one of the most successful corporate litigators ever…" National Law Journal (April 28, 1997) who " has a long history of big wins…" (National Law Journal, June 12, 2000).

The subject matter of Mr. Bartlit's trials ranges from antitrust, to securities, to takeovers, to contracts, to environmental, to white collar crime. Mr. Bartlit's many trials and representations involving intellectual property and patents have encompassed the entire spectrum of cutting-edge technology, including chemicals, gas turbines, laser optics, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, computer algorithms, and computer graphics.

Most of Mr. Bartlit's trials are outside of his home jurisdictions of Chicago and Denver. Corporations select him as trial counsel because of his reputation and his record of success, not because of his geographical location. As a result, Mr. Bartlit has appeared in courts throughout the United States and the world. He has tried cases in over 35 cities, including the Virgin Islands and Scotland (where he has admitted by the Queen's Bench to try the Piper Alpha North Sea platform explosion case for General Motors). In recent years, he has been retained for high technology litigation by some of the largest European companies.

During his career, Mr. Bartlit has tried many celebrated cases, including the Monsanto Astroturf monopoly case and the General Motors Fleet Discount litigation. His US Supreme Court arguments in the Sprayrite and US Gypsum cases established important new principles of antitrust law. He has been retained by United Technologies, General Motors, Monsanto, BP Amoco, Dun & Bradstreet, Shell Oil, Phillips Petroleum, Georgia Pacific, Firestone, Westinghouse and many other Fortune 100 corporations as lead trial counsel in the other major matters.

In the last ten years, Mr. Bartlit has pioneered the use of technology in handling complex litigation. Technology enables the Bartlit Beck firm to handle complex, fact-intensive business litigation with speed, efficiency and dramatically higher quality. The firm's outstanding record in the high-profile cases has led the National Law Journal to describe the firm as "a roster of litigation stars…who try cases all over the country, often of the bet-your-company variety, with the unparalleled record of success…" National Law Journal (April 28 1997)

Mr. Bartlit's firm has also led the movement away from inefficient, unpredictable hourly rates and the resulting large teams of inexperienced lawyers. His firm has demonstrated the practicality and client benefits of retaining highly experienced trial lawyers and compensating them based on their results. The success of his methods is demonstrated by his firm's current representation of a diverse array of US and international clients in major litigation using Bartlit Beck approach, including Arthur Andersen, Pratt & Whitney, Bayer AG, Siemens, ABB, Dupont and the Government of Canada.

Mr. Bartlit has a strong record of public service. He was chosen by the Federal Judges for the Northern District of Illinois to serve as Special Prosecutor in the investigation of fraud in the Illinois state court system. He secured one of the largest pro bono environmental remediations in history in the Four Corners power plant litigation.

Mr. Bartlit has been recognized in several books as among the leading lawyers of the world. His trial methods are discussed in The Trial Lawyers by Emily Couric (St. Martin's Press, 1988), which chronicles the careers of top trial lawyers in the US. His West Point background and his trial techniques are also discussed at length in Don Vinson's 1994 book, America's Top Trial Lawyers: Who They Are & Why They Win (Prentice Hall). Both authors broadly surveyed the profession to identify the top trial lawyers in the country, and both identified Mr. Bartlit.

For a complete record of Mr. Bartlit's trial history, and that of other principal lawyers in this firm, see www.Bartlit-Beck.com. Mr. Bartlit's website contains Mr. Bartlit's trial records, the many articles and books written about Mr. Bartlit and his firm, along with the backgrounds of the other leading trial lawyers in his firm.

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