Top BigLaw Firms for Intellectual Property (Patent) in San Francisco
Every firm in our directory with a San Francisco office that Chambers USA 2026 ranks for patent law in California, strongest band first. Morrison & Foerster LLP leads with Band 1, one of 6 firms in Band 1.
- Ranked firms
- 31
- Band 1 firms
- 6
- Median first-year base
- $225,000
31 ranked firms for patent law in San Francisco
| # | Firm | Chambers 2026 | First-year base | 2L summer applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morrison & Foerster LLP Vault #27 |
| $225,000+ | Opened Oct 1Deadline Feb 28, 2027 |
| 2 | Cooley LLP Vault #22 |
| $255,000+ | Expected November 2026 |
| 3 | Jones Day Vault #26 |
| $240,000 | Not announced (last cycle Oct 27, 2025) |
| 4 | Fenwick & West LLP Vault #71 |
| $225,000+ | Nov 1, 2026 |
| 5 | Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP Vault #14 |
| $235,000+ | See the job board |
| 6 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP Vault #6 |
| $225,000+ | Nov 1, 2026 |
| 7 | Ashurst Perkins Coie LLP Vault #24 |
| $255,000+ | Expected early January 2027 |
| 8 | DLA Piper LLP (US) Vault #42 |
| $225,000+ | Expected early January 2027 |
| 9 | Goodwin Procter LLP Vault #31 |
| $255,000+ | Not announced |
| 10 | Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Vault #77 |
| $225,000+ | Opened Oct 1Deadline Dec 11, 2026 |
| 11 | Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP Vault #97 |
| $215,000 | Opened Sep 16 |
| 12 | Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Vault #37 |
| $225,000+ | Nov 2, 2026 |
| 13 | Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Vault #66 |
| $225,000+ | Not announced |
| 14 | Baker Botts L.L.P. Vault #54 |
| $225,000+ | Not announced |
| 15 | Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP Vault #32 |
| $225,000+ | Expected early December 2026 |
| 16 | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP Vault #25 |
| $225,000+ | Expected early November 2026 |
| 17 | O'Melveny & Myers LLP Vault #28 |
| $225,000+ | Opened Oct 1Deadline Jan 31, 2027 |
| 18 | Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP Vault #82 |
| $200,000 | See the job board |
| 19 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP Vault #15 |
| $225,000+ | Not announced |
| 20 | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Vault #40 |
| $225,000+ | Expected early November 2026 |
| 21 | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. Vault #34 |
| $225,000+ | Expected mid-January 2027 |
| 22 | McDermott Will & Schulte LLP Vault #46 |
| $255,000+ | See the job board |
| 23 | Latham & Watkins LLP Vault #4 |
| $225,000+ | Nov 1, 2026Deadline Jan 29, 2027 |
| 24 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Vault #8 |
| $225,000+ | Nov 2, 2026Deadline Feb 5, 2027 |
| 25 | Paul Hastings LLP Vault #21 |
| $225,000+ | Expected mid-December 2026 |
| 26 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP Vault #55 |
| Varies by office | Not announced |
| 27 | Haynes and Boone, LLP Vault #81 |
| $225,000 | Not announced |
| 28 | Sidley Austin LLP Vault #11 |
| $225,000+ | Expected early November 2026 |
| 29 | Covington & Burling LLP Vault #12 |
| $225,000 | Not announced (last cycle Dec 1, 2025) |
| 30 | Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP Vault #29 |
| $225,000+ | Jan 1, 2027 |
| 31 | Winston Taylor LLP Vault #39 |
| $225,000+ | Expected late October to early November 2026 |
Chambers bands from Chambers USA 2026, California tables; Band 1 is the strongest, and a “Highly Regarded” band sits below every “Elite” band. Pay is each firm’s first-year base; summer dates come from each firm’s own page via the BigLaw job board. How rankings work
Intellectual Property (Patent) in other cities
- Intellectual Property (Patent) in Silicon Valley31 firms
- Intellectual Property (Patent) in New York31 firms
- Intellectual Property (Patent) in Los Angeles30 firms
- Intellectual Property (Patent) in Washington, DC29 firms
- Intellectual Property (Patent) in San Diego13 firms
- Intellectual Property (Patent) in Orange County13 firms
Other practices in San Francisco
- Labor & Employment35 firms
- Commercial Litigation30 firms
- Corporate / M&A22 firms
- White Collar Defense20 firms
- Healthcare18 firms
- Technology Transactions18 firms
- Environmental17 firms
- Insurance / Reinsurance17 firms
- Tax17 firms
- Antitrust16 firms
- Entertainment / Media / Sports16 firms
- Securities Litigation16 firms