(312) 781-9000

The American Lawyer released its 15th annual A-List rankings of the top 20 “most well-rounded” law firms in the United States. Firms are ranked based on a combination of factors including revenue per lawyer, pro bono commitment, racial diversity, associate satisfaction and percentage of female equity partners.

United States Supreme Court building located in Washington, D.C., USA.

Munger Tolles ranked No. 1 on this year’s A-List. Climbing from last year’s number two, the firm moved up thanks to high scores in diversity, pro bono work, and number of female equity partners. Ropes & Gray came in second place on the A-List with high scores in almost all categories except for diversity.  Paul, Weiss jumped 23 spots to claim the No.3 spot, thanks to a strong female equity score and significant increase in associate satisfaction. Kirkland & Ellis landed spot No. 17, slipping from 8th place last year, due to a decrease in its associate satisfaction and diversity scores. Skadden Arps moved up four spots to claim 12th place, thanks to an increase in its associate satisfaction and pro bono scores.

New firms added to AmLaw’s A-List were Paul, Weiss (No.3), Sherman & Sterling (No.8), Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (No.14), Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (No. 15), Arnold & Porter (No.16), and Hughes Hubbard & Reed (No.19).

Additionally, The American Lawyer released a list of the next 20 A-List firms (No. 21-40), The A-List Runners Up. A few firms on the list made last year’s Top 20 but faced shortcomings in vital areas, forcing them off in 2017. Those firms were Morrison & Foerster (No. 22), Jenner & Block (No. 23), Sullivan & Cromwell (No. 24), Willkie Farr & Gallagher (No. 25), and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (No. 26).

See the full report and article on The American Lawyer.

Legal Recruiter Bill Sugarman

 

 

Please contact Bill Sugarman, a legal recruiter, for more information.

 

 

 

The American Lawyer released their annual Global 100 report, ranking the top law firms across the world. The report is based on gross revenue as well as number of attorneys and profits per partner. Attorney headcount saw an increase this year, with an annual growth of 6.4 percent. Overall, gross revenue grew by 3.1 percent for The Global 100, and profits per partner increased, on average, by 4.9 percent.

Gavel, books and scale on a desk

Latham & Watkins reigned in at No. 1 again this year, with the highest gross revenue of The Global 100. Close behind leader Latham was Baker & McKenzie and DLA Piper in spots 2 and 3, respectively. Skadden also remained in its respective spot from last year, coming in at number 4, with a higher revenue per lawyer average than each of the other top 5 firms. Kirkland advanced one spot to No. 5 this year, knocking Dentons down to number 6.

See the full rankings and more of the highlights from the AmLaw Global 100 on The American Lawyer.

Contact Bill Sugarman for more information.

Crain’s reported their annual list of Chicago’s largest law firms. The report, consisting of the top 25 firms in the city ranked by attorney headcount, is accurate as of June 30, 2016. The list includes the firms’ revenues, number of attorneys worldwide within each firm, and a breakdown of the number of attorneys in each practice. Two new firms joined the top 25 this year and two surpass the rest in terms of attorney headcount and revenue growth.

Chicago skyline panorama aerial view with skyscrapers over Lake Michigan with cloudy sky at dusk.

For over a decade, Kirkland & Ellis has remained number one with 574 local attorneys and firm wide revenue growth of 7.2 percent. Sidley Austin and Mayer Brown also managed to hold their respective positions on the list, coming in at number two and three. Jenner & Block had the highest percentage change on the top 25 this year, a 14 percent increase in both number of attorneys and revenue growth. Jenner, coming in at No. 4, now has 307 local attorneys. Winston & Strawn LLP ranked as the fifth largest firm, despite a 1.4 percent decrease in number of attorneys from last year. New to the list this year were Swanson Martin & Bell and SmithAmundsen in spots 22 and 23.

Similar to last year, almost half of the firms on the list experienced a decrease in the number of local attorneys. Schiff Hardin faced the biggest loss, an 18.8 percent drop from last year. Another was Locke Lord, which concurrently had the largest increase in revenue, a 40 percent rise to $597.2 million.

See the full article and rankings on Crain’s Chicago Business.

Contact Bill Sugarman for more information.

The National Law Journal released the 2016 Intellectual Property Hot List: a special report recognizing 15 law firms that performed exceptionally well in intellectual property. In no particular ranking, each of the 15 firms stood out for handling remarkable IP cases in 2015. Ranging in size, from Biglaw to small, IP boutiques, some firms lead victorious cases that impacted major industries.

wooden gavel

Jenner & Block gained recognition for saving rapper, Jay-Z, who faced a copyright infringement battle for using a sample of an Egyptian composer’s song in one of his own in 2000. Andrew Bart, partner at Jenner, argued and won the case on the first day of trial. The Chicago-based firm also claimed big wins on the patent side for their clients: Hospira Inc., Dow Chemical Co., and Nissan North American Inc. Attorneys at Jenner are now working on new litigation cases over the innovative technology associated with gene editing.

According to the NLJ report, California-based Cooley faced a $500 million patent infringement case representing Qualcomm Technologies Inc. against ParkerVision Inc. involving converting electromagnetic signs from high to low frequency. Timothy Teter, a younger generation partner at Cooley, argued the case, resulting in the three-judge panel reversing the original verdict.

Biglaw Kirkland & Ellis made the IP Hot List, in large part, due to their extraordinary patent litigation team. Kirkland partners, Dale Cendali and Daniel Bond, handled a copyright case for Nike Inc. in 2015. Photographer Jacobus Rentmeester accused the Nike brand of copying a 1984 photo he took for Life magazine of Michael Jorden to use for its famous “Jumpman” logo—a $2 billion brand. New York partner Greg Arovas told NLJ, “There’s really substantial trial work done by some of the less senior people in the department.”

Los Angeles-based Sheppard Mullin, a firm less than half the size of Kirkland, won a unanimous case against the U.S. Supreme Court. Incredibly, the case in point, Hana Financial v. Hana Bank, was one that had not been brought to the high court in almost 100 years. Sheppard also gained a notable win in its six-year litigation fight in Intellect Wireless v. HTC, ultimately resulting in the court awarding HTC Corp. $4.1 million. According to the National Law Journal, the firm’s IP practice has grown three times in size since 2006.

Among the other dominating Intellectual Property firms that made the 2016 IP Hot List were: Covington & Burling, Debevoise & Plimpton, Fish & Richardson, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Goodwin Procter, Irell & Manella, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, Morrison & Foerster, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

See more of the highlights from the NLJ 2016 IP Hot List on the National Law Journal.

Contact Bill Sugarman for more information.

The American Lawyer released the 14th annual A-List: an analysis and ranking of the 20 top Big Law firms. The firms that made the AmLaw A-List cut are the best-of-the-best and are rated according to performance in four key areas: financial success, pro bono commitment, diversity and associate satisfaction.

Lawyer, column, legal, law, attorney, america, washington, building

AmLaw Second Hundred firm, Irell & Manella, reigns in at Number 1 this year, proving that size isn’t everything, with only 126 lawyers. The Los Angeles-based firm made an impressive leap from the bottom of the list (No. 18 in 2015), due to a significant increase in associate satisfaction and pro bono scores. Kirkland & Ellis landed spot No. 8, slipping from fifth place last year, due to a decrease in the diversity category. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom took 16th place, thanks to the double-weighted revenue per lawyer category. Skadden moved up one spot, despite low associate satisfaction and decreasing diversity scores.

New firms added to the AmLaw A-List this year are: Chicago-based Jenner & Block, Covington & Burling out of Washington, D.C., and New York-based Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Those three firms forced out the following: Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Williams & Connolly, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Additionally, the American Lawyer announced a list of the next 20 A-List firms (No. 21-40), the Ones to Watch. A few firms on the list made last year’s Top 20 but faced shortcomings in vital areas, forcing them out in 2016. Hughes Hubbard & Reed, previously a Top 20 A-List firm, faced a hit in the associate satisfaction category, knocking them down to Number 21. Chicago-based Winston & Strawn performed well, up from 57th to 34th place this year, thanks to a substantial increase in associate satisfaction.

Attorney Recruiter Bill Sugarman

 

Please contact Bill Sugarman , a legal recruiter, for more information.

 

According to a recent article published by The National Law Journal, a strong corporate presence in Chicago and the surrounding areas is making for some major deals in 2015.

Silhoutte of office people with city buildings in the background

“In the first half of the year, total deal value in Illinois spiked 95 percent to $121 billion, compared with the first half of 2014,” The Mergermarket Group reported. The article suggests these spikes are likely due to a large number of popular companies in the area, as well as the city’s population growth.

With a multitude of transactions on the rise, real estate and corporate among them, “it’s a hot deal market right now in Chicago,” said Vincent Sergi, chairman of Katten Muchin Rosenman.

In a separate article for the “Midwest Report,” The NLJ also cites how this seems to be a trend for law firms across the Midwest as a whole, and an optimistic outcome is projected.

Head over to The National Law Journal to read more.