WholeReach · industry directory
The companies that define the law firms industry, each read on the same nine-check website rubric — a 0–100 score with the exact fixes — alongside the concepts, the developments and the questions that shape the field.
25 companies in the law firms industry, each graded on the nine things that decide whether a buyer or an AI assistant can find and trust them online. Open any name for the full write-up and the specific fixes.
| Company | HQ / region | Site score |
|---|---|---|
| Everlawwww.everlaw.com | US (national) | 100 0 to fix |
| MyCasewww.mycase.com | US | 100 0 to fix |
| Google Local Services Adsbusiness.google.com/us/ad-solutions/local-service-ads | US (national) | 92 1 to fix |
| Harveywww.harvey.ai | Global | 92 1 to fix |
| Troutman Pepper Lockewww.troutman.com | US (national; Texas offices) | 92 1 to fix |
| Filevinewww.filevine.com | US (national) | 88 1 to fix |
| Husch Blackwellwww.huschblackwell.com | US (Austin, TX) | 84 2 to fix |
| iManageimanage.com | Global | 82 2 to fix |
| Kirkland & Elliswww.kirkland.com | US (Austin, TX) | 82 2 to fix |
| FisherBroylesfisherbroyles.com | US (distributed, national) | 80 2 to fix |
| Smokeballwww.smokeball.com | US, UK, AU | 80 2 to fix |
| Westlaw Advantagelegal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/westlaw-advantage | Global | 80 2 to fix |
| Norton Rose Fulbrightwww.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-us | US (Austin, TX) | 74 3 to fix |
| Haynes Boonewww.haynesboone.com | US (Austin, TX) | 72 3 to fix |
| Hunton Andrews Kurthwww.hunton.com | US (Texas / national) | 72 3 to fix |
| Vinson & Elkinswww.velaw.com | US (Austin, TX) | 72 3 to fix |
| Fenwick & Westwww.fenwick.com | US (Silicon Valley / national) | 70 3 to fix |
| Winstead PCwww.winstead.com | US (Texas) | 70 3 to fix |
| Cooleywww.cooley.com | US (Palo Alto / national) | 68 3 to fix |
| Gunderson Dettmerwww.gunder.com | US (Austin, TX) | 68 3 to fix |
| DuBois Bryant & Campbelldbcllp.com | US (Austin, TX) | 64 4 to fix |
| Holland & Knightwww.hklaw.com | US (Austin, TX) | 62 4 to fix |
| Latham & Watkinswww.lw.com | Global (US, Texas offices) | 62 4 to fix |
| Relativitywww.relativity.com | Global | 62 4 to fix |
| CoCounsellegal.thomsonreuters.com/en/c/cocounsel | Global | 54 5 to fix |
70+ solid 45–69 gaps under 45 costing customers
12 businesses whose website blocked our scanner — common when a site filters datacenter traffic, and not a sign the site is broken. A blocked site is never scored zero.
The firms, funds and institutions that set the terms in law firms — context, not local listings; never scored.
The most-read daily commentary site on the legal profession, covering firm finances, bonuses, layoffs, lateral moves and legal technology with a bluntness the mainstream legal press avoids. Where associate sentiment and firm reputation get set. Its site blocks automated fetching.
Author of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct that most states adapt, and of the formal ethics opinions that set the national frame — including Formal Opinion 512 in July 2024, the first ABA opinion on generative AI. Also the source of the Legal Technology Survey Report. Its site blocks automated fetching but is the canonical citation for ethics guidance.
The Travis County legal community's professional home, running CLE, sections, a lawyer referral service, pro bono programs and the Austin Lawyer publication. Section leadership and speaking slots here are among the most credible, rule-safe credentials an Austin firm can publish.
A consumer-facing directory that scores lawyers algorithmically from licensing, experience, publications and peer endorsements, and hosts a large Q&A archive that ranks well in search. Profile completeness measurably moves the score, and reviews here surface in branded searches for a firm's name. Its site blocks automated fetching.
Founded in Houston in 1840 and one of the two defining Texas law institutions, with a long Austin office at bakerbotts.com/geographies/austin covering energy regulatory, projects, IP and technology. Its Austin bench is actively growing through lateral hiring in energy regulatory and energy projects, which makes it the incumbent to displace on any Texas energy or utility matter.
Houston-founded firm positioned explicitly as a global energy law firm, pairing energy transactions and project finance with an unusually strong Washington DC regulatory and government-enforcement practice. Direct competition for Baker Botts and V&E on energy, narrower by design.
The most influential legal directory, ranking firms and individuals in bands by practice and jurisdiction after extensive client referencing, including detailed Texas coverage in Chambers USA. A Chambers band is one of the few third-party credentials sophisticated buyers weigh seriously.
The dominant cloud practice management platform for solo through mid-size firms, spanning matters, time and billing, trust accounting, payments, client intake and CRM through Clio Grow, and legal research after its acquisition of vLex. Its data set is also the source of the Legal Trends Report, which makes it both a vendor and a benchmark.
The annual benchmark study of small and mid-size firm economics, built on aggregated anonymized platform data plus lawyer and consumer surveys — utilization, realization and collection rates, hourly rates by practice and state, flat-fee adoption, response-time-to-conversion, and AI adoption. The only credible public source for how a small firm actually performs. Its site blocks automated fetching.
Thomson Reuters's AI assistant, built from its acquisition of Casetext, handling research memos, document review, deposition preparation, contract analysis and summarization inside the Westlaw and Practical Law ecosystem. The most widely deployed legal AI assistant in mid-size firms because it arrives bundled with tools firms already buy.
The other dominant startup-side firm, covering formation through IPO with unusually deep venture fund formation and life sciences practices. Its published office list — Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Palo Alto, Reston, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC and five international cities — contains no Austin office, so it serves Texas founders remotely. That gap is the opening for an Austin-resident firm competing for the same work.
One of the largest firms in the world by headcount and country coverage, competing on the claim that it can staff a matter anywhere. In Texas it wins cross-border and multi-jurisdiction work that regional firms cannot service, and it is an aggressive venture-and-growth-company competitor as well.
An Austin business law firm covering corporate transactions, real estate, litigation and employment for closely held and mid-market companies. Verified as an active, independent Austin firm — the size of practice that competes for exactly the client a mid-market marketing engine should target.
Cloud-native e-discovery and litigation platform with predictive coding, storybuilding and generative AI review assistance, strong with corporate legal departments and government as well as firms. The principal challenger to Relativity's incumbency.
A founding firm of the technology bar, focused on emerging companies, technology transactions and IP, with offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Santa Monica, Boston and Washington DC — no Austin office, so Texas founders are served remotely. Its site blocks automated fetching, so its office list was verified independently.
Case management built for high-volume plaintiff, personal injury and mass tort practices, with demand-package generation, medical record review, intake and its LOIS legal AI layer. Serves exactly the segment that spends most heavily on legal advertising, so its workflow assumptions shape how those firms handle leads.
Founded in 2002 and branded 'Law Firm 2.0,' the first distributed firm to reach Am Law scale with no traditional offices, no associates in the classic leverage model, and partner payouts far above the norm. It is the price and structure comparison every traditional firm now has to answer.
Top-50 global firm with a verified Austin office at foley.com/office/austin, strengthened by its 2018 combination with Texas firm Gardere Wynne Sewell. Strong in health care, manufacturing, automotive and emerging technology — an industry-first pitch to Austin's hardware and health tech companies.
Google's pay-per-lead ad product for local service businesses including law firms, placing Google Screened providers above traditional search ads after license and background verification, and billing per lead rather than per click. It is now a primary acquisition channel for consumer legal work and the channel with the sharpest bar-rule questions attached.
One of Austin's oldest home-grown full-service firms, strong in real estate, land use, litigation, estate planning and business law, with nineteen attorneys named to Austin Monthly's 2026 Top Attorneys list. It is the default alternative when an Austin business does not want a national firm's rates.
The most single-mindedly venture-focused firm in the country, representing emerging companies and the funds that back them and almost nothing else. It launched an Austin office explicitly to serve the region's venture ecosystem, at gunder.com/en/locations/austin — the sharpest specialist competitor for Austin startup work.
The best-funded pure-play legal AI company, selling domain-specific AI for research, drafting, due diligence and workflow to large firms and professional services organizations, with alliances into major research platforms. Adoption by elite firms is what made in-house AI programs a board-level topic rather than an experiment.
Dallas-founded Am Law 100 firm with a verified Austin office at haynesboone.com/locations/austin and a reputation built on energy finance, fund finance, real estate and complex commercial litigation. It competes squarely with Baker Botts and V&E on Texas corporate work at somewhat lower rates.
Absorbed Dallas-founded Thompson & Knight in 2021, making it the successor entity for that firm's Texas energy and tax practices, and maintains a verified Austin office at hklaw.com/en/offices/austin. Cite Holland & Knight, not Thompson & Knight, which no longer exists.
A page per practice — commercial litigation, corporate and M&A, venture financings, employment, real estate, energy and regulatory, IP and patent, tax, estate planning, family, criminal defense, personal injury, immigration, bankruptcy. This is how buyers search and the highest-intent pillar; a generic 'we do litigation' page competes with nothing.
Energy and utilities, semiconductors and hardware, software and SaaS, life sciences, real estate and construction, financial services, healthcare, government contracting, hospitality. Industry pages beat practice pages for sophisticated buyers because a GC hires someone who already knows the regulator.
Pre-seed founder, venture-backed growth company, public company, private equity sponsor, family business, municipality, individual consumer. Each has a different budget, a different decision-maker and a different tolerance for hourly billing — and needs its own page.
Austin and Travis County, the Western District of Texas, the Texas Business Court Third Division, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, plus statewide and multi-jurisdiction reach. Venue pages carry real search intent and signal that the firm actually appears where the case will be heard.
Intake and conflicts check, engagement letter, investigation, pleadings, discovery and e-discovery, motion practice, mediation, trial or closing, appeal, file closing and retention. Explaining the sequence is the single best trust-builder for a first-time legal buyer.
Hourly, flat, contingency, hybrid, subscription and evergreen retainers, plus trust accounting, expenses and what actually appears on an invoice. Price opacity is the loudest complaint in every client-satisfaction study; a firm that explains fees plainly separates itself immediately.
What Part VII of the Texas Disciplinary Rules permits, what must be filed with the Advertising Review Committee, what may never be said (guaranteed results, unqualified superiority claims, unearned specialist claims), and how testimonials, case results and AI-generated content must be handled. This pillar governs every other pillar.
Bar admissions, board certification through the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, courts of admission, published opinions, speaking, bar leadership and law school. Bios are the most-visited pages on almost every law firm site and the most under-optimized.
Representative matters written so they inform without implying a promise — the hardest editorial problem in legal marketing, because a truthful result stated carelessly becomes an implied guarantee and a rule violation.
How the firm takes and sends referrals, associates co-counsel, and handles fee division — including the written client consent Texas requires. Lawyer-to-lawyer referral is still the largest single source of matters at most firms and almost never gets a page.
Outside counsel guidelines, panel and convergence processes, e-billing and matter budgets, alternative fee proposals, diversity and staffing reporting, security and confidentiality questionnaires. Content aimed at the person who actually runs the RFP.
Practice management, document management, e-discovery, contract lifecycle and legal AI — what the firm uses, how client confidentiality is protected, whether AI time is billed. Clients now ask; a clear published answer is a differentiator and an ethics obligation.
Response time, after-hours coverage, intake questionnaires, conflicts turnaround, communication cadence, portals and status updates. Speed to first contact predicts conversion in legal better than almost any other variable.
Texas legislative sessions, agency rulemaking, new courts and new statutes such as the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act. Timely explainers are the cheapest authority content a firm can produce and the most linkable.
Plain-language guides, checklists, deadline and statute-of-limitations explainers, glossaries, FAQ blocks and short video. Formats that answer a question completely are what answer engines quote and what an anxious buyer actually reads.
Lateral partner hiring, associate recruiting, summer programs, of counsel and non-equity tracks, compensation structure and origination credit. A firm's recruiting pages are read by referral sources and clients as often as by candidates.
answer honestly, including when the answer is no; give the specific markers that change it -- a deadline, a signature, a government agency, an insurer, a criminal exposure, an amount you cannot afford to lose
explain what a consultation can and cannot cover, that no attorney-client relationship exists until there is an engagement, and that a consultation may still create a conflict
explain that the fee is a share of the recovery and that case expenses are usually treated separately; do not state a percentage, because it is negotiated and varies by matter type and stage
distinguish an advance fee deposit held in trust and billed against, from a true non-refundable engagement retainer, and explain what trust accounting means for the reader's money
explain the replenishment mechanic and why firms use it on contested matters, and that it should be written into the engagement letter rather than sprung later
explain certification by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in a defined area, requiring experience, peer review and an examination -- and that it is a specific credential, not a synonym for experienced
no -- explain that in Texas a lawyer may not claim to be a specialist in a way that implies certification unless certified, which is exactly why the phrase on a website matters
explain that limitations periods differ by claim type and that discovery rules, tolling and notice requirements can move the date; give the framework, name the categories, and tell the reader to get the specific date checked -- never publish one deadline as though it covered their situation
mediation is facilitated settlement with no binding outcome; arbitration is a private adjudication that usually is binding and hard to appeal -- and the contract usually decided this before the dispute existed
walk written discovery, document production, e-discovery and depositions, and be honest that document volume and privilege review are what actually drive cost and calendar
scope, fee basis and rates, expenses, who works on the matter, communication expectations, conflicts, termination and file retention
explain that a firm cannot act against an existing client and that even a consultation can disqualify, which is why intake asks for every adverse party's name first
describe it as a statewide specialised trial court with geographic divisions including Austin, created for defined categories of business disputes, with the Fifteenth Court of Appeals hearing its appeals; say jurisdiction depends on the claim type and amount and is still developing, so it is a question for counsel
no, but explain what a demand letter does start -- a record, a possible limitations or notice consequence, and sometimes an insurer's involvement
give the cost drivers -- contested or not, discovery volume, number of parties, venue, expert needs, opposing counsel's posture -- and refuse to publish a figure or a range; a number here is the fastest way for this content to become both wrong and quotable
explain what each fee basis does to incentives and to who carries risk, and that the honest comparison is total expected cost including expenses, not the headline structure
Get your free website score and the exact list of what to fix — no charge, no pitch. Claim your listing or ask for the full report.