Much Shelist: broad experience, focused guidance.
Full-service, Chicago-based business law firm.

A Message from the Management Committee

As merger mania continues in the legal marketplace, megafirms grow even larger by gobbling up their mid-sized and smaller counterparts. While many firms have embraced this trend as a business strategy, they have often done so at the peril of client service and attorney morale. By contrast, Much Shelist has reaffirmed our commitment to remaining independent and being passionately focused on serving middle-market clients throughout Chicago.

Law firm consolidation — and the “gigantism” that results — has created a ripple effect for clients and their attorneys. Both face the possibility of conflicts, not to mention culture clashes, within these new hybrid firms. For clients and attorneys who feel left behind, Much Shelist offers an alternative — an environment of stability and service excellence.

In his book Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large for Inc. magazine, makes a compelling argument that truly great companies are focused on excellence rather than size. We see this trait in many of our client companies, and it is a core belief that guides Much Shelist. In fact, we have clearly expressed our strong feelings on this topic in our recent "Cut Loose” advertising campaign.

According to Burlingham, small giants distinguish themselves by cultivating long-term relationships with clients, business partners and their own people based on common purposes. Therein lies the strength of our steadfast commitment to remaining independent: We pledge to our clients and our attorneys that we will be tomorrow what we are today — only better.

David T. Brown
Chair, Management Committee

For more on the firm's ongoing commitment to the independent, middle-market model and the many ways clients benefit from this approach to providing legal services, read these National Law Journal opinion pieces by David T. Brown: