McKool Smith Recognized Among Top Firms in Benchmark Litigation 2026

Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America's leading litigation firms and attorneys, has ranked McKool Smith Tier 1 in intellectual property and Tier 2 in commercial and insurance in its 2026 edition. The firm is also ranked recommended as a Top 20 Trial Law Firm.

The following attorneys are ranked as regional "litigation stars" in their respective states:

California:

• Chad Hummel (Commercial, Competition/Antitrust, White collar crime)
• Michael Miguel (Labor and employment, Insurance)

New York:

• Chris Johnson (Commercial, Securities)
• Dan Levy (White Collar Crime)
• Robert Scheef (Securities)

Texas:

• Sam Baxter (Intellectual Property)
• Gary Cruciani (Commercial, Intellectual Property)
• Michael Fritz (Commercial, Intellectual Property)
• Lew LeClair (Commercial, Intellectual Property)
• Robert Manley (Commercial, Intellectual Property)
• Nick Mathews (Commercial, Intellectual Property - NEW Ranking)
• Hugh Ray (Bankruptcy)
• David Sochia (Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property)
• John Sparacino (Bankruptcy) 
• Jennifer Truelove (Commercial, Competition/Antitrust, Intellectual Property)

Washington, D.C.:

• Alan Whitehurst (Intellectual Property, Competition/Antitrust)

This year, Joshua Budwin, Kevin Hess, Warren Lipschitz, Zach Mazin, Josh Newcomer, and Courtney Statfeld are recognized as "Future Stars."

Benchmark Litigation is the only directory to focus exclusively on the U.S. litigation market. The publication's identification of the leading U.S. trial attorneys and firms is the result of extensive interviews with private practice lawyers and in-house counsel. Benchmark Litigation is published by Euromoney Institutional Investor, a leading international business-to-business media group. The firm's complete rankings can be found here.