This article was originally published by Law.com.
The data figures provide an all-time view of which firms have built relationships with leading tech companies where AI is a material driver of business, over the past 10 years.
Several law firms have emerged as the most frequent counsel to tech and AI titans in handling lucrative deal work and litigation matters. Latham & Watkins, Fenwick & West, Perkins Coie and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan have led the legal arms race in advising tech companies in the AI boom over the past 10 years through November 2025, according to research from Pirical. The U.K.-based company said it tracked data using its lawyer-matter association database, focusing on publicly mentioned deals and cases.
These rankings reflect all legal work performed for leading AI and tech companies, including AI-specific matters, securities litigation, M&A deals, and employment disputes.
Latham & Watkins has handled at least 252 publicly mentioned deals and disputes for AI and tech leaders such as Meta, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, and Alphabet. Fenwick has worked on at least 223 matters, Perkins Coie on 182, and Quinn Emanuel on 145.
Other firms with high matter volumes for AI and tech clients include: Jones Day (135), Freshfields (135), Cleary Gottlieb (132), Hogan Lovells (108), Cooley (108), and Kirkland & Ellis (102).
Perkins Coie’s Rebecca Engrav noted “significant” demand growth in 2025, shifting from workforce AI policies towards sophisticated compliance program requests in light of new AI laws worldwide.
Mark Brennan of Hogan Lovells highlighted growing demand for AI investigations, enforcement work, and harmonizing global AI regulatory requirements.
Craig Savitzky of Pirical noted the concentration of firms deeply embedded with specific tech companies, and the rise of specialization in certain matter types—such as Paul Weiss doing 45 M&A matters for IBM, and Quinn Emanuel handling 35 patent litigation matters for Alphabet.
From 2023–2025, firms like Cravath, Slaughter and May, Wilson Sonsini, Paul Weiss, Kellogg Hansen, Winston & Strawn, Gibson Dunn, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters saw the highest volume of AI-related matters, marking a shift from earlier dominance by Latham, Fenwick, and Perkins Coie in startup and venture work.
Savitzky ties this change to evolving AI legal needs—now including high-stakes litigation, regulatory and antitrust scrutiny, and IP disputes.
With private AI company valuations skyrocketing—OpenAI reportedly hitting $500 billion—legal work is expected to intensify, spanning complex corporate structures, cross-border transactions, and competition cases.
Plaintiffs’ boutiques like Hausfeld are entering the scene, signaling a rise in AI-related litigation, including copyright, data privacy, and competition lawsuits. Savitzky predicts litigation will follow innovation with an 18–24 month lag, meaning the industry is entering that phase now.