Business Editors

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2001

"Hands Down Winner" With a Survey Score 26% Higher Than Second-Place Finisher

The international law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue ranks No. 1 in client service by a significant margin in a national survey of almost 200 corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies.

The survey, conducted by BTI Consulting Group, a Boston-based market research and management consulting firm for the buyers and sellers of professional services, was released on November 14.

"The Survey of Client Service Performance for Law Firms: The BTI Client Service A Team" examines what are referred to as "The Key 20 Skills, Activities, Attributes, and Behaviors Behind Client Relationships" and which law firms clients think are best at these attributes. Jones Day is cited as "Best of the Best" in eight of the 20 categories -- client focus, understanding the client's business, unprompted communication, breadth of services, bringing together national resources, dealing with unexpected changes, producing quality products, advising on business issues -- and is ranked at or near the top of the remaining 12 categories. Jones Day is ranked first in the BTI Client Service 30, the 30 best law firms at client service who are two to seven times better than the other law firms in the survey. Jones Day's client service score of 135.18 is 26 percent higher than the score of the second-place finisher, and seven times better than the average score.

"Jones Day is the clear client service winner, and ranks in first place," according to the survey. "The firm is cited by clients as the best performing firm in virtually every category at least once, and in most cases, they are cited multiple times."

Jones Day Managing Partner Patrick F. McCartan stated, "we are both flattered and humbled by the degree of trust and confidence in the client service we provide as shown by the results of the BTI Consulting survey. We'd like to express our sincere thanks to all of the survey respondents -- both clients and others -- for this recognition, and want them to know that we will strive to maintain the level of client service reflected by this No. 1 ranking for years to come."

BTI Principal Roanne Neuwirth added that Jones Day's accomplishment is particularly significant "in light of other research we conducted recently which shows that Fortune 1000 companies are largely dissatisfied with their law firms; only 24.7 percent of companies recommend their primary law firms. Given that the majority of corporate counsel tell us they are not satisfied with the client service they receive from their outside law firms, being selected as the best performing firm is quite a milestone."

She also emphasized that BTI conducted this survey independently, and that all law firms nominated by clients were nominated in response to open-ended questions. The only way to make the list was to be recommended by a client.

With over 20 years of experience, BTI has been, and continues to be, the only market research firm to continuously track industrial companies' needs, priorities, spending, hiring criteria and overall decision-making relative to professional services. They also track market share performance and business strategies of more than 400 professional services firms. BTI's insight is based on more than 5,000 interviews with key buyers of professional services at the world's largest and best-run companies.

Jones Day is an international law firm with 26 locations in centers of business and finance throughout the world. With more than 1,600 lawyers, it ranks among the world's largest law firms.