Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Named "Minnesota Firm of the Year" and Midwest "IP Firm of the Year" by US Benchmark Awards

MINNEAPOLIS (February 2013) – Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. is pleased to announce that the firm has been named the “Minnesota Firm of the Year” and the Midwest “Intellectual Property Firm of the Year” by the inaugural US Benchmark Awards.

The winners were announced Jan. 31 at a ceremony in New York. Other award nominees also recognized at the event include the firm’s partners Ronald J. Schutz and Jan M. Conlin, who were nominated as “Midwest Litigator of the Year” and “Midwest Female Litigator of the Year,” respectively. The firm also earned nominations for “National Case of the Year” for its work representing TiVo in Tivo v. Verizon Communications, as well as the Midwest “General Commercial Firm of the Year.”

Benchmark named only four regional intellectual property firms of the year.  In winning the award for Midwest Intellectual Property Firm of the Year, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. beat Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Winston & Strawn and others.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by the US Benchmark Awards as the top law firm in Minnesota as well as an intellectual property law leader in the Midwest,” said Ronald J. Schutz, Chair of the Firm’s National IP Litigation Group and Regional Managing Partner of the New York office. “We also congratulate our individual trial lawyers and teams whose work for our clients this past year was singled out and applauded.”

The Benchmark awards recognized firms at the state, regional and national levels. Regional awards honored work in 10 practice areas by firms that were organized, by geography, into Midwest, Northeast, South and West groups.

The nominees were determined through research and peer reviews conducted for the 2013 edition of Benchmark Litigation, as well as a supplementary questionnaire submitted in fall 2012. Published by Euromoney Legal Media Group, Benchmark Litigation is the annual guide to the leading U.S. litigation firms and lawyers. It is the only publication the focuses exclusively on litigation in the United States.