The Directors & Boards survey: 2014 top corporate governance law firms.

DIRECTORS & BOARDS presents its seventh annual ranking of top law firms specializing in corporate governance issues. These rankings represent the unaided ("fill in the blank") responses from 208 respondents to our legal services survey, which was conducted in November 2014.

We asked directors to name up to three law firms which they felt were best in each of the following categories: general corporate governance issues, director liability, and board-level M&A. The lists represent law firms that are top-of-mind among our survey respondents. While a number of members of these lists remains the same from last year, there are new entrants in each category, especially in the areas of liability issues and M&A expertise.

One key area in the survey itself: More directors than last year are now retaining personal counsel related to their board service, and while the majority of these directors pay for their own personal board legal services, the number of respondents reporting that their company pays for all or part of these services is increasing.

Interestingly, we also saw a decrease in respondents' general satisfaction with their company's outside counsel. While the majority still rate this counsel as excellent or good, the number of good ratings now outweigh excellent ratings. Part of this may be explained by the number of comments we received complaining about legal costs. "It is unpleasant to be unpleasantly surprised when the bill comes in," noted a director, and his comment summarizes many of those in the survey, where the largest request was flat fee or project-based billing from their outside counsel.--Analysis by David Shaw

Legal Counsel and Boards

Legal Counsel and Directors

Choosing Legal Counsel

Methodology

This Directors & Boards ssurvey was conducted in November 2014 via the web, with an email invitation to participate. The invitation was emailed to the recipients of the Directors & Boards monthly e-Briefing. A total of 208 usable surveys were completed.

Best in dealing with general corporate governance issues 2014 Rank 2013 Rank 1 1 Wachtel Upton Rosen & Katz 2 2 Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 3 6 Weil Gotschal & Manges 4 4 Jones Day 5 7 Sullivan & Cromwell 6 5 Cravath Swain & Moore 7 9 Debevoise & Plimpton 8 NR Shearman & Sterling 9 8 Drinker Biddle & Reath 10 NR Davis Polk Best in dealing with director liability issues 2014 Rank 2013 Rank 1 6 Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 2 NR Debevoise & Plimpton 3 3 Jones Day 4 NR Drinker...