While Long Island’s economy emerges from the defense industry ashes as a high-tech contender, local law firms are scrambling to shrug off the stigma as Manhattan’s stepchild and snag clients before they head west.

From telecommunications law and intellectual property to securities and corporate litigation, Long Island’s burgeoning legal market is the result of some 1,500 recently spawned technology companies and three incubators hatching about 55 technology-related startups so far.