Best Law Firms for Startups in 2026

Gunderson Dettmer is a law firm built around the venture capital market, representing startups, growth companies and venture funds. PitchBook's 2025 tables credited it with 1,453 venture financings, the highest count of any firm, and the firm states that those deals involved more than US$158bn of invested capital, nearly double its 2024 figure. The firm says 2025 was its twelfth consecutive year at the top of the global ranking and that it held leading positions in 21 geography, deal-type and industry categories. It lists offices in Silicon Valley, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Austin, Beijing, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, São Paulo and Singapore. Its practice is narrower than those of full-service firms, with little litigation or regulatory work.

Cooley is a full-service firm with nearly 1,400 lawyers across 19 offices in the United States, Asia and Europe. PitchBook's 2025 tables credited it with 1,360 venture deals, second globally, and the firm says it ranked first for representing companies in venture financings in the US and globally for the sixth year running, as well as first for exits and late-stage deals. Cooley states it handled more than 1,200 financings in 2025 raising over US$80bn. Its free founder platform, Cooley GO, provides stage-by-stage guidance, a document library and generators for SAFE financings and Delaware public-benefit-corporation incorporations. Cooley also has large life-sciences, litigation and public-company practices, which helps companies that expect to go public.

Goodwin Procter advised on 779 venture deals in 2025 according to PitchBook, third worldwide. The firm describes its focus as six industries: healthcare, investment funds, life sciences, private equity, real estate and technology. That mix gives it unusual depth on the investor side, since it acts for many private-equity and venture fund managers, and in biotechnology, where financings involve licensing, clinical-stage milestones and later public offerings. Goodwin is a common choice for life-sciences startups in the Boston and Cambridge cluster and for technology companies whose investors are already Goodwin fund clients. As with other large full-service firms, standard hourly rates apply once early-stage fee arrangements end.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe advised on 741 venture deals in 2025, fourth worldwide in PitchBook's ranking. The firm organises its work around sectors including Technology & Innovation and runs the Orrick Tech Studio, a library of legal and business resources for founders; its website also features recent work for AI companies such as Mistral and OpenRouter. Orrick lists around 27 office locations across the United States, Europe and Asia, which makes it relevant for startups raising from European investors or expanding into Europe. It also has substantial energy, infrastructure and public-finance practices, which some climate-technology companies use alongside their venture work.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a Silicon Valley firm long associated with technology companies and equally known for public-company, IPO and M&A work. PitchBook credited it with 614 venture deals in 2025, fifth globally. The firm's mix leans toward later-stage companies, IPOs and corporate governance more than toward high-volume seed work, which makes it a frequent choice for companies that expect to list. It also has significant patent, antitrust, privacy and regulatory practices relevant to technology businesses. The firm's website could not be accessed for this review, so office and headcount figures are not given.

DLA Piper describes itself as a global law firm operating through separate legal entities in many countries. It advised on 464 venture deals in 2025, sixth in PitchBook's global ranking. Its advantage for startups is geographic: few firms can document financings, employment arrangements and subsidiaries in as many jurisdictions under one brand, which matters to companies hiring internationally or raising from investors in several countries. Its venture practice is a smaller share of the overall firm than at Gunderson or Cooley, and service levels and fee arrangements can differ between the separately constituted member entities in each country.

Silicon Legal Strategy is a professional corporation with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles (Culver City), Denver and Austin, focused on entrepreneurial companies and the investors that fund them. PitchBook credited it with 438 venture deals in 2025, seventh globally and the only boutique among the ten most active firms. The firm states it has handled more than 2,000 venture capital and angel financings and more than 150 M&A transactions since 2021. A boutique of this kind typically offers lower overhead than a large firm but cannot supply in-house litigation, tax, regulatory or international teams, so clients refer those matters elsewhere.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman advised on 354 venture deals in 2025, eighth in PitchBook's global ranking. The firm lists 22 offices, from Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC to London, Tokyo, Taipei, Doha and Riyadh. Its recent announced work includes counsel to SambaNova on a US$1bn Series F, to Modal Labs on a US$750m Series D and to Stoke Space Technologies on a US$1bn Series E, indicating a focus on large AI-infrastructure and deep-technology rounds. Its Washington regulatory practice is relevant to startups dealing with government contracts, export controls or energy regulation.

Latham & Watkins is one of the largest global law firms, with offices in 14 countries. It advised on 353 venture deals in 2025, ninth in PitchBook's global ranking. Latham's main strengths lie in capital markets, M&A, private equity and litigation, and its emerging-companies practice tends to serve well-funded growth-stage companies and their investors rather than pre-seed founders. The firm is a frequent choice for companies planning large financings, cross-border acquisitions or public listings, where its transactional bench is deep. Its rate structure is among the highest in the market.

Fenwick & West describes itself as purpose-built for technology and life-sciences companies at every stage of growth. PitchBook credited it with 323 venture deals in 2025, tenth globally. The firm states that it acted on more than 40% of the highest-value technology IPOs of 2025, citing Deal Point Data, and that it is business counsel to nearly half of US technology companies valued above US$25bn, citing PitchBook. Its practice is concentrated on the companies themselves rather than on fund formation, and it has strong intellectual-property, tax and executive-compensation teams. For very early companies it competes directly with Cooley and Gunderson, though with a smaller annual deal count.