Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles

What Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles does

Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles (DSCK) was a private plaintiff-side litigation boutique headquartered in Atlanta and operated nationally from 1990 until its 2023 closure. It represented individuals and businesses harmed by wrongful conduct in complex civil litigation, including class actions, multi-district litigation, business disputes, environmental and toxic-tort matters, personal injury and product liability, professional negligence, insurance, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and public-interest cases.

The firm operated as a single integrated legal practice rather than a software platform; the input identifies no proprietary technology, patents, APIs, or other technical components. Its operating assets were attorney expertise, trial experience, subject-matter knowledge, professional reputation, and relationships with outside scientific experts. DSCK's attorneys collectively tried hundreds of cases and resolved thousands more through settlement, and individual matters produced recoveries or relief exceeding $1 billion.

It generated professional-services revenue through contingency fees tied to successful recovery, fixed fees, and some hourly billing. Contingency and non-traditional fixed-fee structures enabled individuals and smaller companies to pursue claims they might not otherwise afford. Matters were sourced through direct client engagement, attorney and peer referrals, court appointments to lead counsel or steering committees, and collaborations with other firms; the firm had four founding partners and employed more than 15 other lawyers over its history.

Name

Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles

Legal name

Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles LLC

Website

https://dsckd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Closed

Short description

Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles was an Atlanta plaintiff-side litigation boutique serving individuals and businesses harmed by wrongful conduct nationwide through complex civil, class-action, environmental, and personal-injury representation from 1990 until 2023.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Contingency Fees: The firm represented plaintiffs on a contingency fee basis, meaning fees were contingent upon successful recovery. This was particularly important for class actions, personal injury cases, and complex civil litigation where clients might not have resources to pay hourly rates.
2. Legal Services - Alternative Billing: The firm was known for alternative billing methods including contingent and fixed fees in business cases. This creative approach allowed small companies to pursue claims against larger competitors without fear of being litigated into bankruptcy.
3. Legal Services - Hourly/Traditional Billing: Traditional hourly billing was used in some cases, particularly for professional negligence and certain business litigation matters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles was an Atlanta-based plaintiff-side litigation boutique law firm that represented businesses and individuals harmed by the wrongful conduct of others. The firm offered representation across eleven practice areas—Business Litigation, Class Actions, Personal Injury, Products Liability, Environmental Litigation, Toxic Torts, Insurance Litigation, Intellectual Property, Professional Negligence, Bankruptcy Matters, and Uncommon/Public Interest Cases—on contingent-fee and alternative-billing arrangements in complex civil litigation, class actions, and multi-district litigation proceedings nationwide.

Product overview

Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles was a litigation boutique law firm that operated from 1990 to 2023. The firm offered a unified legal services practice organized into eleven distinct practice areas: Bankruptcy Matters, Business Litigation, Class Actions, Environmental Litigation, Insurance Litigation, Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Products Liability, Professional Negligence, Toxic Torts, and Uncommon and Public Interest Cases. Rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, the firm operated as a single integrated litigation practice where attorneys specialized across these different practice areas while sharing firm resources, trial experience, and a common plaintiff-side focus on representing people and businesses who were wronged.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bankruptcy Matters
• Business Litigation
• Class Actions
• Environmental Litigation Plaintiff-side environmental lawsuits including individual lawsuits, nationwide litigation, class actions, and mass tort cases arising from hazardous waste sites and pollution sources, with particular expertise in environmental justice cases.
• Insurance Litigation Plaintiff-side litigation against insurance companies, including claims for disability insurance denials, health insurance overcharges, denied life insurance payments, and bad faith refusal to pay judgments.
• Intellectual Property Plaintiff-side intellectual property disputes including patent, trademark, and copyright cases, often working with IP specialists from other firms on a contingent fee basis.
• Personal Injury Plaintiff-side personal injury claims arising from automobile accidents, trucking collisions, airplane crashes, explosions, fires, electrical disasters, medical malpractice, and related toxic tort and product liability matters.
• Products Liability Plaintiff-side cases involving defective products, including faulty medical devices, poorly designed automobiles, hazardous consumer products, shoddy building materials, and dangerous drugs, including class action and individual mass tort cases.
• Professional Negligence Plaintiff-side representation of victims of professional negligence against doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals who failed to meet appropriate standards of care, often billed on an hourly basis.
• Toxic Torts Plaintiff-side personal injury cases from exposure to chemicals or hazardous substances, including drugs, consumer products, and environmental pollution, led by nationally recognized toxic tort litigation expertise.
• Uncommon and Public Interest Cases Plaintiff-side representation on novel legal matters including civil rights, constitutional law, election disputes, death penalty defense, and public interest cases, often handled on a pro bono basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• Equifax data breach settlement provided more than $1.3 billion in relief for 148 million Americans - largest data breach settlement in history
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 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.

• Teams of lawyers from other firmscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe firm frequently worked in leadership positions with teams of lawyers from other firms on cases of national significance, including the national breast implant litigation, managed care multi-district litigation, Masonite hardboard siding litigation, national tobacco wars, and Equifax Data Breach Litigation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves3 records

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles