This directory serves as a comprehensive reference tool designed to provide structural and operational transparency regarding major United States law firms during the mid-1980s. Authors Lynn S. Glasser and Stephen A. Glasser compiled this two-volume set to offer practitioners, researchers, and business entities a standardized overview of firm organization, practice areas, and significant legal engagements. The work functions as a primary data repository for identifying legal service providers across various geographic regions in the United States.

Legal professionals and historians frequently utilize this text as a foundational reference for understanding the landscape of the American legal industry during the 1980s. Experts note that the directory provides a dense, factual snapshot of firm structures that is highly useful for historical research and comparative analysis.