Our Approach

Exceptional client service (ECS) is foundational to how we deliver elite legal counsel. To optimize a consistent and collaborative approach, all of our client-facing employees complete an interactive, comprehensive program instilling the very best practices in client service. This generates the kind of loyalty that results in 58 of our largest 100 clients having been with us more than 20 years. Our ECS training is only one of the many ways we strengthen our existing client bonds and establish new, lasting relationships.

BTI Consulting Group—for the 21^st consecutive year—recognized Morgan Lewis for client service in its Client Service A-Team 2022 report, making us one of only three law firms in the world named among the top 30 Client Service firms since the survey’s inception in 2002.

We work alongside in-house counsel and business and technology professionals to bring forth the very best of our collective experience to maximize outcomes for our clients. Our leading-edge client collaboration tools enable secure, shared workspaces where teams can swiftly and seamlessly communicate with clients around the globe as needs arise. This unified approach helps us honor our “One Firm, One Vision” promise to deliver highly calibrated and uniform services across the board.

As one of the first firms to offer alternative fee arrangements (AFAs), Morgan Lewis understands the importance of creating inventive alternative pricing options that considers our clients’ legal spend while continuing to deliver significant results.

Our Business Operations team has transformed how we manage the economics of legal representation and serves as the foundational pillar of the business of law at Morgan Lewis. From flexible staffing arrangements to secondments, we have a different way of looking at who best serves our client as the state of play of a given matter develops, such as:

ML Force

A captive staffing agency that Morgan Lewis created to enable us to swiftly scale our legal teams or retain lawyers with specialized skillsets to meet our clients’ individual needs. ML Force lawyers are recruited, vetted, and embedded in our practices, and supervised by firm partners to ensure the exceptional client service our clients deserve and have come to expect.

ML Benehelp

Our team of talented senior benefit advisors who can temporarily serve in-house when our clients need short-term benefits help during times of peak demand. Learn more about ML BeneHelp.

Inventive products demand innovative fee structures, and we regularly offer customized pricing structures that best suit our clients’ needs. Examples of our offerings have included flat-fee and subscription-based COVID-19 FAQs updated in real time around new government guidance, flat-fee business continuity insurance policy review, and flat-fee workplace culture investigations to identify potential diversity, equity, and inclusion issues at companies our clients are contemplating acquiring.

We use a variety of management systems to optimize utilization and control costs. Through these systems, we can provide benchmarks and average statistics for certain types of cases or venues, staffing mix, and cycle times, among other metrics.

Efficient, focused project management is a priority for all of our lawyers. We work with clients to assess the scope of a matter, factoring in geography, the substantive legal issues at play, and how and where the issues fit in the context of the client’s overall business strategy.

Projects are staffed with a core legal team possessing subject-matter mastery. Our in-house financial analysts and business management professionals assist our lawyers with budgeting and pricing, and work with clients in determining appropriate AFAs and staffing models that align with their needs and expectations.

Our in-house teams of data analysts, data scientists, IT professionals, financial analysts, and business operations personnel work with our lawyers and clients daily to refine matter management, document automation, and real-time predictive analytics. Our team has experience manipulating large data sets, automating data extraction processes, building dynamic dashboards, developing predictive models, and deploying customized solutions for clients in diverse industries.

eData

Bringing together more than 100 lawyers and 60 technologists and other professionals, Morgan Lewis’s eData practice has pioneered legal technology innovation since its formal creation in 2004. From strategy to execution, we leverage our expansive technology portfolio and deep bench of technologists, engineers, data scientists, and process designers to harness the power of data in service of our clients. At the same time, we are practicing lawyers and remain our clients’ trusted advisers, with the know-how to guide our clients’ litigation and business strategies and the experience to effectively execute—in court and on paper.

Our eData Deskbook provides practical guidance for all lawyers and discovery managers responsible for litigation and information governance.

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Request a copy of the Deskbook

Our cross-functional Knowledge Management and Practice Services team uses state-of-the-art technology to help our lawyers identify, prioritize, and manage projects. Our knowledge of our lawyers’ work product and processes helps us to modernize practice through solutions that improve transparency, provide optimal user experience, and enhance workflow. By automating and refining processes, we maximize internal efficiencies, reduce risk, and enhance the power and consistency of our services for clients—enabling us to focus on the work that is most important to them.

Learn about our firm’s third-party data integration tool, KM ConnX

Our AI-powered document analysis platform, KIRA, helps our teams and clients manage large amounts of knowledge by automating document creation and analysis. We can import libraries of contracts or other work product into our platform and “teach” it to catalog and extract important terms or concepts over time. This helps us identify trends, outliers, and market standards. We use another AI engine, Contract Companion, for a quick, one-click review to ensure the legal integrity and quality of our contractual documents. These tools help produce high-quality work faster.

We know that fostering an environment where knowledge and innovation are shared and well-being is actively promoted is the only way we can help clients reach their goals—and it is the only way for us to grow personally and professionally. Some of the ways we create an environment where all can thrive include:

ENGAGEMENT: WELLNESS AND INCLUSION

Our unique, holistic approach to well-being, ML Well, promotes intellectual, physical, emotional, and occupational well-being coupled with an underlying emphasis on engagement and community. Positive psychology-based research and empirical data shape our “no-one-size-fits-all” approach to the resources and curriculum. We also partner with clients on related programming. This focus on well-being is the right thing for all at Morgan Lewis and is central to our ability to provide exceptional client service.

The emphasis on engagement starts with our inclusive environment, where everyone has a voice and opportunity to thrive. We truly believe a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and points of view strengthens the work we do and helps us meet the needs of our clients with greater understanding, sophistication, and skill. Our diverse talent hones holistic skillsets through an array of volunteerism and pro bono opportunities, often in partnership with clients. For example, our racial justice taskforce, Mobilizing for Equality, with working groups including hundreds of volunteers, has joined in common cause with more than 60 clients on projects to promote equality.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FROM DAY ONE

Developing Our Legal Talent

Through the Morgan Lewis Institute, we provide comprehensive live and on-demand professional skills training for all associates that is fully integrated with our core competency model. Associates also have the benefit of robust mentoring, coaching, and well-being support—all of which are available in-house. In addition, our dedicated Attorney Coach works with associates individually and in groups on everything from practice management to career planning.

One of our premier programs is our week-long Trial Academy. Run completely in-house, it provides a unique opportunity for our senior associates to sharpen their trial advocacy skills by working closely with our partner faculty, who together are some of our most proficient and accomplished litigators. Over the course of the program—which culminates in full mock trials complete with jury deliberations and verdicts—around 30 partners teach, coach, and provide real-time feedback to the attendees. By investing the time to train associates in hypothetical situations, we ensure that our clients work with adept and tested lawyers when critical matters are on the line.

Developing Our Professional Staff

Our Talent Development team provides our professional staff with the resources, tools, and core competencies needed to succeed in their jobs and best serve our clients. Our enterprise training builds critical collaboration skills, with additional programming on team-building, new leader integration, and development planning, as well as individualized coaching for emerging leaders. Beyond professional development, our dedicated team of technology instructors instills proficiency with the relevant leading-edge technologies our firm uses to remain agile and efficient. Professional staff also receive customized training for targeted developmental needs upon request.