Jones Day's Holmes (Cleveland), Morgan, Lewis & Bockius's MacIntosh (Philadelphia), and Latham & Watkins's Stevenson (Los Angeles) were among the first regional law firm leaders to recognize that their biggest local clients were going national. To retain them, their firms had better become national, too. In the late sixties and early seventies, this pioneering trio pushed their partners to open offices in big urban cities across the country. "We had been a national firm as a result of the good fortune of being in a region with large American companies," says Jones Day partner Joe Sims. Holmes (pictured) "saw how the world was going to change."

RUSSELL BAKER
Baker & McKenzie
Chicago

Growing up in Spanish-speaking New Mexico in the early 20th century, Russell Baker decided he wanted to have an international career. As the cofounder of Baker & McKenzie, in 1949, he got it. The Chicago firm opened its first overseas office in Venezuela in 1956, and has mushroomed into more than 72 offices in 45 countries with 4,000 lawyers. At a time when Wall Street firms dominated the legal landscape, Baker took a different approach. He visualized how a modern global law firm could scale up: Using locally recruited talent from around the globe, Baker would provide one-stop shopping for some of the world's growing multinationals. In time, much of The Am Law 100 would follow.

REGINA PISA
Goodwin Procter
Boston