In a period of dynamic and occasionally significant change in the legal profession, we have a sense of our history and a focus on our future. We trace our roots to Edward Ryan who set up a Milwaukee law practice in 1848, and later served as Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and to Matthew Hale Carpenter, who became a United States Senator and was called "the Webster of the West."

Since our inception, we have grown to become a leading law firm with a regional, national and international practice. From Edward Ryan's trial practice in 1848, we grew to 30 attorneys in 1970, 130 attorneys in three offices in 1990, 200 attorneys in 1997 and more than 250 attorneys in six offices in 2005.

Edward G. Ryan	1848-1858
Ryan & Carpenter	1858-1859
Ryan, Carpenter & Jenkins	1859
Ryan & Jenkins	1859-1861
Jenkins & Hickox	1861-1865
Jenkins & Elliott	1865-1873
Jenkins, Elliott & Winkler	1873-1882
Jenkins, Winkler & Smith	1882-1885
Jenkins, Winkler, Fish & Smith	1885-1888
Jenkins, Winkler, Smith & Vilas	1888
Winkler, Flanders, Smith Bottum & Vilas	1888-1904
Winkler, Flanders, Smith Bottum & Fawsett	1904-1907
Winkler, Flanders, Bottum & Fawsett	1907-1911
Flanders, Bottum, Fawsett & Bottum	1911-1917
Bottum, Bottum, Hudnall & Lecher	1917-1920
Bottum, Hudnall, Lecher & McNamara	1920-1926
Bottum, Hudnall, Lecher, McNamara & Michael	1926-1935
Bottum, Hudnall, Lecher, Michael & Whyte	1935-1936
Lecher, Michael Whyte & Spohn	1936-1943
Lecher, Michael, Spohn & Best	1943-1947
Lecher, Michael, Spohn, Best & Friedrich	1947-1952
Michael, Spohn, Best & Friedrich	1952-1961
Michael, Best & Friedrich	1961-1997
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP	1997-
Michael Best & Friedrich (Illinois)	1997-1999
Michael Best & Friedrich LLC	1999-2003
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP (Wisconsin & Illinois)	2003-