Michael Best & Friedrich LLP is one of the Midwest's oldest and largest law firms. It was founded in 1848 by the noted trial lawyer Edward G. Ryan, who later served as Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Today, the firm comprises more than 250 attorneys in six locations, including Milwaukee, Madison, Waukesha and Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois and Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania.

From our Midwestern base we serve clients on a regional, national and international basis. Our clients range in size from one-person start-up ventures to Fortune 500 companies. As a broad-based business law firm we are able to offer the experience needed to handle a complete range of business legal matters. Our practice is organized into the following legal practice groups to better serve our clients:

• Business
  
• Health Care
  
• Intellectual Property
  
• Labor and Employment Relations
  
• Land & Resources
  
• Litigation
  
• Taxation
  
• Wealth Planning Services
  

We also have special teams, made up of attorneys from a cross-section of our practice areas, which focus on legal issues affecting specific industries and types of clients, including:

• Agribusiness, Food Processing & Distribution
  
• Class Action/ Multi-District Litigation Team
  
• Commercial Law
  
• Communications
  
• Condemnation
  
• Construction & Infrastructure
  
• Corporate Finance & Securities
  
• eBusiness
  
• Education
  
• Employee Benefits
  
• Energy & Utility
  
• Environmental
  
• Financial Institutions
  
• Food
  
• Government & Public Policy
  
• HIPAA
  
• Immigration
  
• Intellectual Property Litigation
  
• Intellectual Property Women
  
• International
  
• Land Use
  
• Life Sciences
  
• Local Government
  
• Non-Profit Organizations
  
• Products/Tort Liability
  
• Property Taxation
  
• Real Estate
  
• Renewable Energy
  
• Residential Development
  
• Retail Development
  
• Retail/Distribution Services
  
• Tax Assisted Development
  
• Telecommunications
  
• Trade Associations
  
• Trade Secret Protection and Non-Competition Team
  
• Venture Capital
  
• White Collar Criminal Defense and Corporate Investigations
  

Although proudly Midwest-based, our practice is national and international in scope. In addition to membership in the bars of Wisconsin and Illinois, our attorneys are licensed to practice in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington.

Michael Best is the exclusive member firm for Wisconsin of Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms. Lex Mundi is the mark of excellence for legal services globally. With more than 16,000 attorneys in 560 offices, Lex Mundi member firms are present in more than 160 countries, states and provinces. These premier law firms provide legal representation and local market knowledge just about anywhere needs may arise. Our firm's membership in Lex Mundi provides us with global reach and access to legal resources that enhance our ability to serve our clients' needs around the world.

Our attorneys are recognized among the best in the nation, including a number of our attorneys listed in Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in America, among other such publications. The 2005-2006 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, published by Woodward/White, Inc., includes 43 Michael Best attorneys among its rankings of the best and the brightest of today's legal practitioners. Attorneys listed in the book are selected by their peers in the legal community, and constitute only the top one percent of all lawyers practicing in America today.

When adding to our legal team, we seek seasoned attorneys whose depth of knowledge and experience fit the needs of our clients as well as talented young attorneys whose outstanding academic performance indicates they will be among the top practitioners in their areas.

The foundation of our success is solid long-term relationships with our clients. We foster personalized, one-on-one attorney-client relationships while at the same time emphasizing the team approach to solving complex legal problems. By doing so, we are able to combine creative solutions, sound legal analysis and responsive service while still maintaining cost-effectiveness. Clients have indicated that they like this approach. Our clients consistently give us high marks for responsiveness and value.