About Us

Welcome to LMG Life Sciences – the definitive guide to leading law firms and lawyers specialized in the life sciences industry.

The intricacies of life science products require a diverse array of legal expertise across many disciplines. From regulatory approval or patent filing to collaborative transactions or product liabilities, legal practitioners play an important role in guiding a product through its life cycle.

Furthermore, products born from biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, and agritech companies demand a sophisticated scientific understanding.

Mindful of these needs, LMG Life Sciences aims to present attorneys and firms in a way that speaks to the intricacies of both the legal market and the life sciences industry. The guide’s distinctive editorial structure highlights firms that specialize in four main practice areas by editorializing ranked firms and by listing our Life Sciences Stars in a way that shows overlap between certain legal areas.

What do you publish?

We publish law firm and lawyer rankings and accompanying editorial in print and online.

Research timeline

North America

• RESEARCH LAUNCH – March 24, 2021 (Download the North America research form)
• SUBMISSION DEADLINE – June 1, 2021
• RESEARCH INTERVIEWS – May to June
• RANKINGS AND EDITORIAL PUBLISHED – September 2021
• AWARD RESULTS – September 2021

For Europe, visit here for the 2021 research timeline.

How to take part

To take part in our research simply:

1. Download our 2021 research form

2. Complete the form

3. Upload it to our online submissions portal or email to chris.adams@euromoneyny.com

Why take part?

• Opportunity for editorial coverage in the guide

• Accurate and in-depth representation of your firm’s activities

• Exposure to our global readership at the world’s most significant corporations and financial institutions

• No cost involved

Ranking criteria

Our law firm rankings are based on three key criteria:

Case evidence

In each research cycle we ask firms to provide recent deal and case highlights and this is used to determine their position in the market.

Firms should provide their most complex and interesting matters in the research form and explain clearly to our research team why they are important and what they tell us about the firm’s abilities.

Peer feedback

We conduct an online ‘Practitioner Survey’ of law firm partners to get their thoughts and feedback on our current law firm rankings and attorney rankings.

All partners active in the relevant research categories are invited to take part and we also conduct phone and face-to-face interviews with practitioners.

Client feedback

We speak to a wide range of corporate and in-house contacts as part of our ‘Client feedback survey’ to get their opinions on the firms and attorneys they use.

Structure of the Guide

In covering the United States, we focus on four main practice areas and have ranked firms either “Highly Recommended” or “Recommended” within a number of sub-categories:

• Regulatory – FDA Pharmaceutical, FDA Medical Device, Healthcare: Pricing and Reimbursement
• Intellectual Property – Patent Prosecution, Patent Strategy and Management, General Patent Litigation, Hatch-Waxman Litigation
• Financial & Corporate – General Corporate, Licensing & Collaboration, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital
• Non-IP Litigation and Enforcement – Product Liability, White-Collar/Government Investigations, Antitrust

Canada covers four similar practice areas, including regulatory, intellectual property, financial & corporate, and product liability litigation. In addition to our annual awards, we debuted in 2020 a set of firm practice area rankings for Canada, which include the following:

• Regulatory
• Patent Litigation (Branded)
• Patent Litigation (Generic)
• Patent Prosecution
• Financial & Corporate
• Product Liability

Life Science Stars

Alongside our firm rankings we also recognise the work of outstanding individuals. Our recommendations are based on the same three factors as our law firm rankings. The Stars listings also display each attorney's specific legal expertise within the life sciences sector.

Life Cycle Firms

Only a small number of firms are rated as a "Life Cycle Firm." We feel the firms listed here have a number of capabilities that allow them to handle pertinent legal issues facing a product throughout its life cycle. We chose firms based on the breadth of their life sciences practice and by meeting a threshold number of life sciences stars across at least three practice area chapters.

Chapters

The publication has four practice area chapters and one chapter dedicated to firms that can handle a product’s life cycle. Each practice area chapter is broken down to cover a number of sub-topics:

Practice Area Chapter	Sub Topic covered:
Regulatory	FDA Pharmaceutical FDA Medical Devices Healthcare: Pricing and Reimbursement
Intellectual Property	Patent Prosecution Patent Strategy and Management General Patent Litigation Hatch-Waxman Litigation (Branded) Hatch-Waxman Litigation (Generic)
Finance & Transactional	Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions Licensing & Collaboration Venture Capital
Non-IP Litigation & Enforcement	Product Liability Government Investigation Antitrust
Life Cycle

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I send information in another format?

Yes, as long as the information we ask for is provided you can submit in any word or PDF format.

Can I provide the same information that I provided to another publication?

Yes–so long as it relates to your life sciences practice and the information included is what we have asked for.

How much influence do we have over our ratings vs. the external market?

Firms are encouraged to tell their story via our research form and through interviews. We then measure the firm’s input against the feedback we receive via studying the market. If our studies are in harmony with the firm’s assertions, we weight them equally. If there is an extreme disparity between the firm’s views and a pronounced percentage of the market, we will provide greater weight to the market consensus.

If we participate, are we guaranteed to get rated and/or have commentary?

All firms who submit and can prove they are doing notable work in the relevant practice areas will receive some form of editorial coverage, however we do not guarantee rankings or lawyer ratings.

Should we list confidential cases/clients? How do we ensure these remain confidential?

You can provide confidential clients/cases if you feel we should be aware of these, and we will certainly be respectful of confidential agreements – please mark confidential information clearly, ideally in RED.

When/how do you contact client referees?

We contact all client referees provided to us via email and invite them to take part in an online client survey. The survey asks clients about the firms they use, why they use them, what they use them for and how long they have been using them. The information provided by clients is confidential though we do publish non-attributed client quotes in the guide.

Do you only rank those of partner level?

We rank partners, of counsel and senior associates. LMG Life Sciences does not rank associates or senior counsel, the latter including former stars who have since been de-equitized from their firms. There are rare exceptions where an attorney of counsel will be recognized as a star for performing at a partner level.

We’re a small boutique firm – what chance do we stand against the big brand name firms in your rankings?

Because LMG Life Sciences focuses on a number of practice areas within the industry, specialty shops and smaller firms stand a very good chance of being just as highly rated as large corporate firms, and in some cases even more highly rated.

How do we get an in-person interview?

In-person interviews are welcomed in the New York City area. Simply contact us and request one, and, depending on the schedule flexibility of our researchers, we can arrange one. We also conduct annual visits to various rotating jurisdictions around the US. In the event that we are visiting your jurisdiction, we would reach out to your firm to invite you to meet.

Can I review my firm’s editorial in advance of press and suggest changes to it?

No. Firms cannot be allowed to view their editorials prior to press, and are never allowed to have their own input into how they read.

What is the readership of LMG Life Sciences?

The readers of our guide include law firms and buyers of legal services/in-house counsel.

Is LMG Life Sciences "pay-to-play?" If I don’t support the project financially do I still get ranked?

LMG Life Sciences is absolutely not "pay-to-play." Firms cannot pay to appear in the guide, and can only be ranked if the market deems them worthy of consideration. Advertising and marketing opportunities are eventually solicited from the firms as a form of an endorsement for your firm being selected by our publication. However, this is only reserved for firms and individuals that are selected for recognition by our publication. Declining to financially support LMG Life Sciences will not in any way affect a firm’s rankings or editorial status. However, conversely, client firms do enjoy additional benefits such as complete lists of ranked lawyers prior to press, first priority with receiving web results, etc.