By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Buffalo-based Goldberg Segalla LLP was named to the 2010 National Law Journal's Midsize Hot List.

The list is comprised of 20 law firms that employ between 50 and 150 attorneys and demonstrated an ability to weather the down economy or bounce back from it, according to Leigh Jones, associate editor.

"Those (firms) included here show not only that bigger is not necessarily better, but that midsize is often the right size," Jones wrote on the National Law Journal Web site, in announcing the list.

She cited lower hourly rates as a key advantage for midsize firms, as well as the ability to offer specialized services to attract new, often larger clients.

Goldberg Segalla Managing Partner Richard Cohen called it "a tremendous honor" to be included on the list.

"We've only been around for nine years and we started with just seven lawyers, so we are very proud of how dynamically we've grown and with the talent we've been able to surround ourselves with," he said.

The firm has ballooned to 115 attorneys and a total staff of 200 in less than a decade.

Cohen described the growth as "dynamic, but also very methodical," adding that the firm has followed a strategic plan since its inception.

"Other firms that have grown have done so by acquiring other firms or large practices from other firms, and we haven't done that," he said. "Our growth has been completely organic. The largest group of lawyers we have ever brought in at one time is five."

The National Law Journal cited the strength of the firms on the list in light of the national recession. Cohen, meanwhile, attributed Goldberg Segalla's continued success in lean times to several factors.

"We have stayed true to our strategic plan and that has helped us tremendously," he said. "Also, our practice is largely a litigation-based practice. We don't have a substantial corporate or transactional client base, and I think those are the firms that have suffered the most in the downturn.

"With a litigation practice, as long as people continue to sue each other, we're going to have the opportunity to represent one side in those disputes," he said.

A diverse client portfolio also is a plus, he said.

"We have never had a single client that has accounted for more than 6 percent of total revenues in any given year," Cohen said.

"We've also never had a single client who has been our largest client by volume for two successive years. If we lost a handful of clients because they couldn't survive the economic downturn, it wouldn't significantly impact us."

Goldberg Segalla was the only Western New York firm to make this year's list, according to the National Law Journal

Goldberg Segalla LLP

• Founded: 2001
• Managing partner: Richard Cohen
• Total attorneys: 115
• Total staff: 200
• Offices: Buffalo, Rochester, New York City, Philadelphia, Syracuse, Albany, White Plains, Long Island, Princeton, Hartford
• Primary practice: litigation
• Web site: www.goldbergsegalla.com