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I should have included the Polio Vaccine and multiple organ transplants at the University of Pittsburgh as well.
Philadelphia's contributions to medicine are far more pronounced than Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia had the first hospital, first medical school, first pharmacy school and first mental institution in the US. Wills Eye was the first eye hospital. Wistar Institute was the first biomedical research center, and today is a leader in cancer research. CHOP was the first hospital for children. Wistar was the first institution to test medicine on animals. The first successful heart surgery was by Charles Bailey at Hahnemann Hospital. Maurice R. Hilleman founded a cure for the mumps. Monell Chemical Senses Center was the first and only institution dedicated to the science and research of taste and smell. The rubella vaccine was founded here. Jonathan E. Rhoads and Stanley J. Dudrick discovered feeding tubs for those in hospitals unable to eat. First double hand transplant and successful separation of Siamese twins at CHOP. Etc., etc., etc.
This doesn't even include Benjamin Rush and Philip Syng Physick, who were two father's of american medicine. Physick himself pioneered many medical practices including the stomach pump, autopsy, cataract surgery, tonsillectomies, etc.
Even today, CHOP is usually ranked #1 or #2 in not only the country, but the world for Children's Medicine. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is usually 7 or 8. Penn Medicine usually ranks 8 or 9. UPMC usually 12 or 13.
This doesn't include the Wistar Institute, Novartis, Thomas Jefferson, Wills Eye, University City Science Center, Endo, GSK, Teva, and other leading medical, research and pharmaceutical companies based in Philadelphia.
Medical in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are superb, but Philadelphia is leagues ahead of Pittsburgh in medical, research, pharmaceutical and biomedical.
Last edited by RightonWalnut; 01-20-2017 at 02:22 PM..
Pittsburgh is no slouch when it comes to law firms. We do have Reed Smith and K&L Gates.
Absolutely Pittsburgh is no slouch. K&L Gates and Reed Smith are large firms and are among the most profitable 100 law firms in the world. K&L Gates has offices in Wilmington, DE however, and Reed Smith have offices in Center City Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is a much larger and more important law city. The term "Philadelphia Lawyer" was coined for a reason.
Philadelphia has 5 law firms among the most profitable in the world including Pepper Hamilton, Morgan Lewis and Bockius, Dechert, Duane Morris and Drinker Biddle & Reath.
Philadelphia has higher ranking law schools as well. Penn's law school is ranked #7. Temple's law school ranks 50th. Villanova's ranks 74th. Rutger's Law School - based in Camden - ranks #92. Drexel's is tied at 111. All ranked among the top 150.
Pitt's ranks 78th. Duquesne is tied at 111. The only Pittsburgh law schools ranked within the top 150.
Absolutely Pittsburgh is no slouch. K&L Gates and Reed Smith are large firms and are among the most profitable 100 law firms in the world. K&L Gates has offices in Wilmington, DE however, and Reed Smith have offices in Center City Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is a much larger and more important law city. The term "Philadelphia Lawyer" was coined for a reason.
Philadelphia has 5 law firms among the most profitable in the world including Pepper Hamilton, Morgan Lewis and Bockius, Dechert, Duane Morris and Drinker Biddle & Reath.
Philadelphia has higher ranking law schools as well. Penn's law school is ranked #7. Temple's law school ranks 50th. Villanova's ranks 74th. Rutger's Law School - based in Camden - ranks #92. Drexel's is tied at 111. All ranked among the top 150.
Pitt's ranks 78th. Duquesne is tied at 111. The only Pittsburgh law schools ranked within the top 150.
K&L and Reed are true heavyweights and up there with Morgan and Dechert. Dechert no longer considers itself a Philadelphia firm, but the legal community knows better. I don't think PGH has any other native v100 firms, but Eckert Seamans and Buchanan Ingersoll are solid AmLaw 200 picks, though not quite on or with Pepper, Duane, or Drinker. Most, if not all of, those firms have PGH offices, by the way, and there are some national heavyweights (e.g. Jones Day) that have sizeable PGH presences but skip Philly entirely. When measuring Philly's legal market, it's fair to include South Jersey, but disingenuous to throw in Wilmington, which, due to the fact that so many large businesses are Delaware LLCs regardless of physical headquarters, is its entirely own animal. Far more NYC-headquartered firms have outposts in Wilmington than Philly, but pound-for-pound, Wilmington is also by far the most significant legal market in the nation, and perhaps even the world. Overall, Philly is a secondary legal market, albeit a larger one. Pittsburgh is a smaller to mid-sized secondary market. Pound-for-pound, Philly probably has a modest edge, but it doesn't make great fodder for these p****** contest style threads.
As far as law schools are concerned, Penn is in a league of its own, but there's no meaningful difference between Temple/Villanova/Rutgers/Pitt, and Drexel isn't all that far off. Law school rankings have rapidly diminishing value past the top 14 and are basically meaningless by 30. There is a bigger drop-off when you get to Duquesne, which is around the same as Widener.
Most, if not all of, those firms have PGH offices, by the way, and there are some national heavyweights (e.g. Jones Day) that have sizeable PGH presences but skip Philly entirely. When measuring Philly's legal market, it's fair to include South Jersey, but disingenuous to throw in Wilmington, which, due to the fact that so many large businesses are Delaware LLCs regardless of physical headquarters, is its entirely own animal. Far more NYC-headquartered firms have outposts in Wilmington than Philly, but pound-for-pound, Wilmington is also by far the most significant legal market in the nation, and perhaps even the world. Overall, Philly is a secondary legal market, albeit a larger one. Pittsburgh is a smaller to mid-sized secondary market. Pound-for-pound, Philly probably has a modest edge, but it doesn't make great fodder for these p****** contest style threads.
I mean yeah, PGH is a nice sized law community, but Philadelphia is significantly larger. Drinker Biddle and Dechert are the only Philly firms without offices in Pittsburgh. On the flip side, there are several very large firms with offices in Philly but none in Pittsburgh like DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, Greenberg Traurig, Akin Gump, etc. It goes both ways. A lot of firms have offices in both cities though.
Wilmington is absolutely 100% a part of the Philadelphia market. It is within the Philadelphia metro area and very connected.
I wouldn't call Philadelphia a secondary legal market unless you consider any cities within the top 10 law markets in the country as secondary. I would probably rank Philadelphia 7th in law after NYC, LA, SF, Chicago, DC and Boston.
Wilmington is absolutely 100% a part of the Philadelphia market. It is within the Philadelphia metro area and very connected.
Wilmington IS well connected to Philadelphia - hell, SEPTA runs its commuter rail service for DART under contract - but its legal community is rooted in Delaware's status as the preferred state for business incorporation. If Delaware didn't have its business-friendly incorporation laws and Chancery Court, Wilmington's legal community would be much smaller.
Same for Wilmington's credit card industry: it and Sioux Falls, SD, share status as credit-card hubs, and both of them have this distinction thanks to their bank-friendly usury laws.
I worked for six months at the largest of Wilmington's credit-card banks, MBNA, on a long-term temporary assignment that ended the week after the company announced it was being bought by Bank of America. I suspect that the old 1914 New Castle County Court House on Rodney Square, which MBNA purchased for office expansion, remains vacant.
FWIW, since both Penn and Widener were brought up here, I also worked at both of those schools, in their respective communications offices. Widener University School of Law is in suburban Wilmington, not the main campus in Chester; it was founded in the late 1970s as the Delaware Law School, the state's only law school (the University of Delaware doesn't have one). It later established a second campus in Harrisburg. Widener has since separated the two campuses and runs them as separate entities, reviving the Delaware Law School name for the campus in Brandywine Hundred. (That campus was built in 1965 to house a two-year business college mainly for women, Brandywine College. It closed not that long after the campus was built.) In terms of attitude, I used to say that Widener Law was to Widener as the Wharton School is to Penn - that is to say, it regarded itself as somewhat apart from the parent institution. (In Widener (Delaware) Law's case, it was, though.)
I mean yeah, PGH is a nice sized law community, but Philadelphia is significantly larger. Drinker Biddle and Dechert are the only Philly firms without offices in Pittsburgh. On the flip side, there are several very large firms with offices in Philly but none in Pittsburgh like DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, Greenberg Traurig, Akin Gump, etc. It goes both ways. A lot of firms have offices in both cities though.
Yes, Philadelphia has the larger and more influential market. I'm only saying that once adjusted for size, the edge is fairly modest. As far as secondary/tertiary offices are concerned, NYC firms are more likely to open shop in Philly, and Midwestern firms are more likely to open shop in PGH.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RightonWalnut
Wilmington is absolutely 100% a part of the Philadelphia market. It is within the Philadelphia metro area and very connected.
Wilmington may be connected in other ways, but its legal market is insulated by design. Most Philadelphia lawyers are barred in PA and NJ, but very, very few are admitted in Delaware. As MarketStEl points out, Delaware's disproportionate influence as a legal market derives from Delaware's favorable corporate laws. Because Delaware is such an important market but is still small in absolute numbers, the legal community is very tightly-knit and hard to break into. Before you can even sit for the Delaware bar exam, you have to complete a "scavenger hunt" that requires you to travel all over the state to attend trials, hearings, depositions, sentencing sessions, etc. Most Philly firms--even the larger ones--have micro-sized Wilmington offices so that they don't have to hire outside counsel for Delaware matters. Few Delaware firms have any Philly footprint whatsoever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RightonWalnut
I wouldn't call Philadelphia a secondary legal market unless you consider any cities within the top 10 law markets in the country as secondary. I would probably rank Philadelphia 7th in law after NYC, LA, SF, Chicago, DC and Boston.
NYC, LA, DC, Chicago, and SF are primary legal markets. Philly, like Boston, is a larger secondary market. There's a very large drop-off after NYC alone.
Last edited by ElijahAstin; 01-21-2017 at 12:29 PM..
Wilmington IS well connected to Philadelphia - hell, SEPTA runs its commuter rail service for DART under contract - but its legal community is rooted in Delaware's status as the preferred state for business incorporation. If Delaware didn't have its business-friendly incorporation laws and Chancery Court, Wilmington's legal community would be much smaller.
Same for Wilmington's credit card industry: it and Sioux Falls, SD, share status as credit-card hubs, and both of them have this distinction thanks to their bank-friendly usury laws.
I worked for six months at the largest of Wilmington's credit-card banks, MBNA, on a long-term temporary assignment that ended the week after the company announced it was being bought by Bank of America. I suspect that the old 1914 New Castle County Court House on Rodney Square, which MBNA purchased for office expansion, remains vacant.
FWIW, since both Penn and Widener were brought up here, I also worked at both of those schools, in their respective communications offices. Widener University School of Law is in suburban Wilmington, not the main campus in Chester; it was founded in the late 1970s as the Delaware Law School, the state's only law school (the University of Delaware doesn't have one). It later established a second campus in Harrisburg. Widener has since separated the two campuses and runs them as separate entities, reviving the Delaware Law School name for the campus in Brandywine Hundred. (That campus was built in 1965 to house a two-year business college mainly for women, Brandywine College. It closed not that long after the campus was built.) In terms of attitude, I used to say that Widener Law was to Widener as the Wharton School is to Penn - that is to say, it regarded itself as somewhat apart from the parent institution. (In Widener (Delaware) Law's case, it was, though.)
I've passed by Widener (once again, Delaware) Law a couple times. It's a series of nondescript buildings just off 202 and almost resembles a strip mall. Even though Delaware's legal market is distinct, many, if not most, Widener Delaware grads feed into SE PA and South Jersey. Ironically, fairly few Widener grads can break into the coveted Delaware corporate law scene because firms like RLF, Morris Nichols, Young Conaway, etc., focus their recruiting efforts at top schools.
I've passed by Widener (once again, Delaware) Law a couple times. It's a series of nondescript buildings just off 202 and almost resembles a strip mall. Even though Delaware's legal market is distinct, many, if not most, Widener Delaware grads feed into SE PA and South Jersey. Ironically, fairly few Widener grads can break into the coveted Delaware corporate law scene because firms like RLF, Morris Nichols, Young Conaway, etc., focus their recruiting efforts at top schools.
That last doesn't surprise me one bit. In the hierarchy of universities in the Philadelphia region, Widener is most definitely a regional school. I would imagine a top law firm in Delaware would want to set its sights beyond the "regional" talent pool, even if its bread is buttered by business that is in a sense "local" in nature. (Especially since that "local" business usually involves companies with no physical presence in the state.)
This may have changed since I set foot on the Widener Delaware Law campus in 2006, but the bulk of the campus is not really visible from Concord Pike; it consisted of a cluster of three or four low-slung Midcentury Modern buildings with shallow pitched roofs and stone-and-glass exteriors, plus one or two of newer vintage. All of the Midcentury Modern ones still had plaques inside their main entrances identifying them as Brandywine College buildings built in 1965 or 1966. A grassy courtyard separated the older buildings.
I've only been to Pittsburgh once (not a native of the Mid-Atlantic), so maybe my observations are off. But Pittsburgh strikes me as incredibly white for a "big city". There seemed to be very little ethnic or racial diversity in the city. Maybe its just because I live in a very diverse neighborhood and seeing anything else would stick out to me, but it was surprising. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as some people like only living around people like them, but to me it would equal a less interesting place.
I've only been to Pittsburgh once (not a native of the Mid-Atlantic), so maybe my observations are off. But Pittsburgh strikes me as incredibly white for a "big city". There seemed to be very little ethnic or racial diversity in the city. Maybe its just because I live in a very diverse neighborhood and seeing anything else would stick out to me, but it was surprising. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as some people like only living around people like them, but to me it would equal a less interesting place.
Correct me if I'm wrong...
Sounds like you may have been in the suburbs and not the "city". Pittsburgh's lack of diversity is obvious once you leave the inner city. The city itself appears more diverse than it is.
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I don't think PGH has any other native v100 firms, but Eckert Seamans and Buchanan Ingersoll are solid AmLaw 200 picks, though not quite on or with Pepper, Duane, or Drinker. Most, if not all of, those firms have PGH offices, by the way, and there are some national heavyweights (e.g. Jones Day) that have sizeable PGH presences but skip Philly entirely. When measuring Philly's legal market, it's fair to include South Jersey, but disingenuous to throw in Wilmington, which, due to the fact that so many large businesses are Delaware LLCs regardless of physical headquarters, is its entirely own animal. Far more NYC-headquartered firms have outposts in Wilmington than Philly, but pound-for-pound, Wilmington is also by far the most significant legal market in the nation, and perhaps even the world. Overall, Philly is a secondary legal market, albeit a larger one. Pittsburgh is a smaller to mid-sized secondary market. Pound-for-pound, Philly probably has a modest edge, but it doesn't make great fodder for these p****** contest style threads. 
