In this special report, The National Law Journal takes the measure of litigation shops in our nation’s capital. We asked top litigation practices to tell us about their operations — headcounts and revenues, biggest wins and, yes, even their losses. Our staff in Washington and elsewhere in the country scrutinized the data and selected the nine firms you’ll read about in these pages. Latham & Watkins is the top honoree, but it was a close call, and we selected two runners-up: Hogan Lovells and Sidley Austin. We also recognize firms with distinguished practices in intellectual property, general civil litigation, white-collar defense, insurance, mass torts and labor and employment. — Beth Frerking, Editor in Chief

WASHINGTON LITIGATION DEPARTMENT OF THE YEAR
LATHAM & WATKINS
Whether arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court or a municipal judge, litigators from Latham & Watkins last year came out on top in high-stakes fights across the board.

FINALIST
SIDLEY AUSTIN
Sidley Austin’s Washington litigators excel at melding regulatory expertise with litigation savvy to deliver results in a wide range of cases.

FINALIST
HOGAN LOVELLS
Hogan Lovells litigators racked up a solid series of wins in 2013, prevailing in cases that raised cutting-edge issues in areas including health care, international sanctions and employee benefits.

MASS TORTS
GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER
Nearly a decade after 300 people sued Unisys Corp. and others over alleged groundwater contamination associated with a site in Grand Island, Neb., Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher negotiated a settlement in 2013.

GENERAL LITIGATION
WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY
Williams & Connolly knows what it is not — a full-service, do-everything law firm. At its heart, the firm’s strength lies in litigation, and its successes last year show its ­prowess.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE AND DORR
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr racks up intellectual property litigation victories by double-teaming matters with litigators and patent office experts who battle in different types of courts.

INSURANCE
WILEY REIN
In 2013 alone, the law firm represented XL Specialty Insurance Co. in response to the bankruptcies of Dewey & LeBoeuf, the country’s largest law firm failure, and Washington Mutual, the largest bank collapse in U.S. history.

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT
MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS
Labor and employment cases can unfurl in many ways — with class actions, individuals and with companies sizing up billions of dollars in claims or expenses. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius handled them all in 2013.

WHITE-COLLAR CRIME
STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP
Politicians and corporate executives in trouble with the feds have a long history of turning to Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Last year, the firm won dismissal of a congressional obstruction charge against a former BP PLC executive and argued for leniency — with some success — for ex-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

More from The National Law Journal:
Washington In-House Legal Departments of the Year
Colorado’s In-House Legal Departments of the Year
Chicago’s In-House Legal Departments of the Year
Minneapolis-St. Paul Legal Departments of the Year
Seattle In-House Legal Departments of the Year