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.
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.
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Law360 released its fourth annual Glass Ceiling Report, which surveyed 300 law firms on gender diversity and ranked firms based on the percentage of female equity partners in the United States.
According to the report, women make up just 34% of all attorneys and 23% of partners in law firms across the country. Law360’s editor in chief, Anne Urda, notes, “Intentions among law firms are good, and some slight progress has been made, but overall the numbers indicate that law firms need to do much more to close the gap among male and female associates and partners.”
Firms with the highest levels of female equity partners tend to focus on building a clear pipeline to equity partnership for women and offering benefits like work schedule flexibility, mentorship programs and greater leadership opportunities in order to retain top-performing attorneys.
Among the 300 law firms surveyed, small firms (20-149 attorneys) had the highest percentage of female equity partners, including Adelson Testan (60%), Walsworth (57.1%), Stokes Lawrence (43.5%), Berry Appleman (42.9%) and Verrill Dana (41.5%).
For medium to large sized firms (150-599 attorneys), the top five best firms for female partners were Fragomen (40.7%), Miller Nash (37.7%), Hanson Bridgett (37.1%), FordHarrison (33.3%) and Chapman & Cutler (31.2%).
In the biggest category of ‘Big Law’ firms (600+ attorneys), firms with the highest percentage of female equity partners were Littler (28.5%), Faegre Baker (27.2%), Jackson Lewis (26.1%), WilmerHale (25.1%), and Ropes & Gray (25%).
See the full article and rankings on Law360.
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Law firm managing partners’ expressed greater optimism in the economy and legal market for the second half of 2017, according to a report released by Citi Private Bank.
The quarterly survey polled law firm leaders, 106 of which are among Am Law’s top 200 firms. Over half of those who participated in the survey expressed confidence that the second half of the year will be considerably or somewhat better than the first, indicating an uptick in overall confidence from the previous quarter.
The projections, according to the Am Law Daily, “may prove to be a bullish outlook for an industry that has been dogged by stagnant demand, particularly among Am Law Second Hundred firms.”
See the full report and article on The American Lawyer.
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As law firm billing rates are rapidly increasing overall, a new study shows that firms that raised their rates more slowly are starting to see better revenue growth. According to the report, released by Thomson Reuters’ Peer Monitor, law firms that increased their billing rates at a more gradual pace are experiencing an increase in demand from their clients. Although the demand for legal services overall is down, the study shows that some firms are getting a much higher volume of work than others. “Firms that are willing to take less of a rate increase seem to be doing better with demand,” said Leonard Lee, an analyst at Peer Monitor.
In the first half of 2015, Am Law 100 firms saw a drop in demand by 0.2 percent, similar to Am Law Second Hundred firms, which saw a decrease of 0.4 percent. However, mid-sized firms that benefitted from a softer increase of billing rates saw a 1.6 percent increase in demand overall. The report warned its readers that this is not a proven method to increase revenue, and there may be other factors to consider. “Over the last few years, a lot of work seems to be moving down market,” Lee said. He explained that the study gives averages and every firm is different, but the data shows a definite correlation between rate increases and revenue.
See the full report and article on The American Lawyer.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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The American Lawyer released this year’s national and regional midlevel firm rankings, based on a satisfaction survey of associate responses. The survey analyzes key workplace elements such as: compensation and benefits package, training and support, relations with partners and associates, satisfaction level of the work, billable hours’ policy, and management’s openness about strategies and partnership opportunities. The participating firms were ranked on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score possible.
On the national scale, Paul Hastings earned first place again. From a survey of 51 respondents, the firm received the highest satisfaction score, a 4.763 out of 5. In numerical order, the succeeding firms in the top 5 are: Los Angeles’-based O’Melveny & Myer, Cozen O’Connor based in Philadelphia, internationally-operated Clifford Chance, and nationally-based Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher.
From a local perspective, the American Lawyer provides an overview of the top firms organized by major city. Of the top 18 markets, the scores are reflective of respondents only in that firm’s office in the designed city, not the firm as a whole. It comes as no surprise that national leader, Paul Hastings, is ranked No. 1 in multiple major cities, such as: Chicago, New York, Orange County, and Washington D.C. The same is true for nationally ranked No. 2 firm, O’Melveny, which is No. 1 in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. In the Texas market, Dallas’ top firm is Gibson Dunn, and in Houston, the leading firm is Orrick. In California, Chicago-based Winston & Strawn landed No. 1 in the Los Angeles market, and San Diego’s leading firm is Sheppard Mullin. No. 3 nationally ranked, Cozen O’Connor, leads the Philadelphia market.
See more of the highlights from the AmLaw National and Regional Midlevel Firm Rankings on the American Lawyer.
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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.
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.
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The National Law Journal released the very first NLJ 500 this year: a compilation of the 500 largest U.S.-based law firms. This year, in addition to the annual report of the top 350 largest firms, NLJ included 150 more law firms and ranked those into two tiers: “mid-tier” and “on-the-cusp-of-Big-Law” firms.
Dentons, previously one of the largest U.S. firms, has been removed from the NLJ 500 due to its expansion and large number of attorneys in China. In order to make the cut, firms must have more lawyers in the U.S. than in any other country. It comes as no surprise that Baker & McKenzie is leading the chart for a second year with a mass of 4,363 lawyers.
San Francisco based Farella Braun + Martel just made the cut making them the smallest firm in the top 350. Overall, the smallest firms that made the NLJ 500 were Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts in Des Moines; Goldberg Kohn in Chicago; and BatesCarey in Chicago. The most shocking decline on the NLJ 500 for 2015 was Kenyon & Kenyon’s 29% decrease in head count of attorneys.
For more information, contact Bill Sugarman.