What McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP does

McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP is a Central Valley-anchored law firm founded in 1951 in Fresno, California, that has grown into a multi-state full-service practice. The firm fields 80-plus attorneys across seven offices in California (Fresno, Modesto, San Luis Obispo, Visalia), Nevada (Las Vegas, Reno), and Ohio (Cincinnati), serving clients in 21 industries including agriculture, construction, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, real estate, technology, and title insurance. Its practice spans general litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, appellate advocacy, employment law, medical and professional malpractice defense, business transactions, real estate, family law, estate planning, bankruptcy, intellectual property, title insurance, water law, and public entity representation.

The firm operates on a partner-owned limited liability partnership model with no disclosed outside institutional capital, and generates revenue through hourly professional services billing (with some contingency and fixed-fee arrangements) across business clients, individual clients, public entities, and insurance carrier panel counsel relationships. There are no proprietary technology platforms; the firm's competitive differentiation rests on long-tenured talent credentials — including the only Central California member of the California State Bar's Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, three American College of Trial Lawyers fellows, eight American Board of Trial Advocates members, and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating — together with an 11-consecutive-year "Best Law Firm" recognition streak in the Business Journal's Best of Central Valley Business competition.

Growth has been driven primarily by the January 2019 merger with Sinsheimer Juhnke McIvor & Stroh, LLP (SJMS), which extended the firm onto the Central Coast, plus subsequent office openings in Visalia and Cincinnati. Distribution is overwhelmingly direct and relationship-driven: clients engage attorneys through firm offices, professional referrals, and insurance carrier panel assignments, with marketing limited to website content, community sponsorships, professional association participation, and earned-media recognition.

Name

McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP

Legal name

McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP

Website

https://mccormickbarstow.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP is a Fresno-founded, partner-owned full-service law firm with 80-plus attorneys across seven offices in California, Nevada, and Ohio, representing business, individual, public entity, and insurance carrier clients in litigation, transactions, and specialty practices including insurance coverage and bad faith.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411), Offices of Lawyers (541110), Offices of Lawyers (54111)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) & Securities Law (BPAHAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Litigation Support & Expert Witness (Valuation-Related) (BPAHANAG)

Keywords

• Legal services
• Litigation defense
• Insurance coverage
• Appellate practice
• Professional liability

Headquarters

HQ city

Fresno

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Legal Services: The firm provides comprehensive legal representation across multiple practice areas including litigation, transactions, and advisory services. Revenue is generated through attorney time billing (hourly rates), potential contingency fees in applicable matters, and fixed-fee arrangements for specific services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP is a full-service law firm providing comprehensive legal representation across multiple practice areas. The firm offers litigation, transactional, and advisory services spanning 21 industries including insurance, healthcare, agriculture, construction, real estate, and title insurance, with specialized practice groups in Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation, Appellate Practice, Employment Litigation, Medical Malpractice Defense, Professional Liability Defense, Business Formation and M&A, Real Estate, Estate Planning, Family Law, Bankruptcy, and Intellectual Property.

Product overview

McCormick Barstow LLP is a full-service law firm providing comprehensive legal representation across multiple practice areas. The firm operates on a platform-plus-specializations model, offering core litigation services supplemented by specialized practice groups including Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation, Appeals and Appellate Litigation, Employment Litigation, Medical Malpractice Defense, Professional Liability Defense, Business Transactions, Real Estate, Estate Planning, Family Law, Bankruptcy, Intellectual Property, and Title Insurance. The firm serves clients across 21 industries including Agriculture, Construction, Healthcare, Insurance, Real Estate, Technology, and Title Insurance, with offices in California (Fresno, Modesto, San Luis Obispo, Visalia), Nevada (Las Vegas, Reno), and Ohio (Cincinnati).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• General Litigation

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Sinsheimer Juhnke McIvor & Stroh, LLP (SJMS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 November 2018In November 2018, McCormick Barstow merged with Sinsheimer Juhnke McIvor & Stroh, LLP (SJMS), expanding to the Central Coast. The agreement became final January 2, 2019. All lawyers from SJMS transitioned to McCormick Barstow, and the firm continued to employ all current SJMS employees in San Luis Obispo. This merger expanded McCormick Barstow to seven locations across California, Nevada, and Ohio.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Phelps Dunbar: Regional full-service law firm of comparable scale serving business clients with insurance, litigation, and corporate practices. Directly comparable as a mid-sized regional platform serving enterprise and individual clients across multiple states.
• Frost Brown Todd: Multi-state regional law firm with comparable size (~500 attorneys), insurance, professional liability, and appellate practices. Closely analogous mid-sized platform with overlapping geographic and practice-area footprint.
• Wilson Turner Kosmo: California-headquartered mid-sized law firm with strong insurance, employment, and professional liability defense practices. Direct regional peer sharing the California insurance defense market and comparable attorney scale.
• Goldberg Segalla: National insurance and commercial litigation firm of similar mid-sized scale with strong insurance coverage and bad faith defense practice. Competes for similar insurance carrier panel work and shares a multi-state office model.
• Bullivant Houser Bailey: West Coast mid-sized law firm with insurance coverage, professional liability, and commercial litigation practices. Comparable scale and regional focus on insurance defense work similar to McCormick Barstow's specialty.

Broad incumbents

• Jackson Lewis P.C. National labor and employment specialty firm with comparable wage-and-hour class action defense practice. Overlaps with McCormick Barstow's employment litigation work and shares the multi-state office strategy.
• Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz: Large multi-state regional law firm with comparable insurance coverage, professional liability defense, and appellate practices. Similar multi-office footprint and historical reliance on regional brand strength, though significantly larger in attorney count and revenue.
• Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart: Largest US labor and employment law firm, competing with McCormick Barstow's employment litigation and consulting practice. Represents the type of specialist national firm that could pressure mid-sized regional firms on sophisticated employment matters.
• Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith: National insurance defense firm with strong bad faith and coverage practice comparable to McCormick Barstow's core specialty. Competes directly for insurance carrier panel counsel mandates and shares a heavy emphasis on litigation and professional liability defense.

Regional players

• Howard & Howard: Mid-sized regional firm with comparable practice mix in litigation, business, insurance, and professional liability. Similar scale and full-service regional model, though primarily operating in different Midwest geographies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth LLP