It's only Wednesday and already three different publications have weighed in on McKool Smith's record two-year string of courtroom victories and head-turning verdicts against household name corporations, particularly Microsoft Corp. Dallas Morning News business columnist Cheryl Hall devoted her Sunday column to firm co-founder Mike McKool and principal Doug Cawley, noting the firm's big verdicts and internal culture, as well as a forward-thinking hybrid fee structure that allows the firm to pursue a mix of contingency fee cases, traditional hourly work or a combination of both.

Hall notes: In the last year, McKool Smith PC has won nearly $400 million in two patent infringement victories against the Redmond, Wash., software giant. It just filed a third suit, hoping for more of the same. But Microsoft is not the only company feeling the McKool Smith bite. The Dallas-based law firm racked up more of the Top 100 largest courtroom verdicts than any other firm in the country with four in both 2008 and 2009. Given its latest verdict against Microsoft of $106 million for Silicon Valley-based VirnetX Holding Corp. two weeks ago, McKool Smith may be off to another banner year.

In a Monday piece for the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, Ashby Jones focused on how the firm's work on behalf of plaintiffs might serve as a model for big firms across the country

The leaders of the nation's largest law firms didn't get to where they are by happy accident. Not only have many of them spent years as successful lawyers and developed the work-the-room shmooziness of politicians and university presidents. They also spend every waking hour thinking about one thing: making their firms more profitable.
So our question to them is this: If profitability is your thing, why haven't you taken a page from the books of Wiley Rein, Dickstein Shapiro and McKool Smith and at least dabbled in handling work for plaintiffs, work that can pay off big if you're successful?
Sure, there are risks. Still, you've seen how it can go. In the early part of the aughts, Dickstein Shapiro brought home a bundle handling contingency fee work for plaintiffs in antitrust litigation. In 2006, Wiley Rein made silly money representing a company called NTP in patent litigation with RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry.
And that brings us to McKool Smith. In the last year, the firm has brought home nearly $400 million for plaintiffs in two patent suits against one company - Microsoft. And it just filed the third. In fact, in the last four years, McKool Smith's contingency fees have exceeded $100 million, according to the story.

Meanwhile, IP Law360 looked at McKool Smith and agreed that other firms might do well to take a page from the firm's plaintiff's side playbook.
Law firms are looking to diversify as a buffer against an unforgiving economy. And a cutthroat legal market has forced some firms to take what they can get.