The American Lawyer released their annual Global 100 report, a ranking of the world’s 100 largest law firms by gross revenue, profits per partner, and total attorney headcount. Overall, gross revenue grew by 2.8 percent for The Global 100, and profits per partner increased, on average, by 0.5 percent. Attorney headcount also saw an increase this year, with an annual growth of 2.7 percent.
American firms accounted for 81 of the world’s top-grossing firms, matching a record set in last year’s survey, the report revealed. The remaining places are filled by 12 British firms, three from Canada, two from China, one from Australia and one from South Korea. According to the report, this is the second time in the history of Am Law’s global rankings that U.S.-based firms occupy the top five spots.
Latham & Watkins reigns in at No. 1 again this year, with the highest gross revenue of The Global 100. Baker & McKenzie retained the No. 2 spot, leading the top 5 in terms of total attorney headcount with 4,719 attorneys. Kirkland & Ellis advanced two spots to No. 3 this year, thanks to a 15% increase in gross revenue and 14% jump in profits per partner. Skadden Arps remained in its respective spot from last year, coming in at number 4. DLA Piper, on the other hand, dropped two places this year to claim the No. 5 spot, after a 3% decrease in total revenue.
See the full rankings and highlights from The Global 100 on The American Lawyer.
Contact Bill Sugarman for more information.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Please contact Bill Sugarman , a legal recruiter, for more information.
Innovative strategies are necessary for continued firm growth in the corporate legal market, according to a recent article from The American Lawyer. William Henderson and Evan Parker report that due to decades of organic growth, when law firms simply grew with their clients, the “supply of capable outside counsel [now] exceeds demand,” requiring firms to consider a new, focused approach for future expansion.
They posit that the Am Law 200 firms are now forced to grow solely by taking the market share. Henderson and Parker believe that focus is key to successfully doing so, quoting the approach that Apple’s Steve Jobs took of “starting with the customer experience and working backwards to the technology.” They encourage law firms to act similarly by exploring their particular niche and studying their existing clients in order to effectively take the market share.
The article also broke down market size by practice area, and found that “the largest market is the one most synonymous with large-firm practice: antitrust, corporate, securities, finance, and insurance”–essentially, the commercial world.
Henderson and Parker use the $15 billion labor and employment market as a case study to illustrate Jobs’ focused approach, attributing the L&E firms success to “working backwards from the needs of the client” in order to build “an ark that won’t sink.”
The article also uses New York City-based firm Skadden to further exemplify the potential success for firms who employ industry focus and who value understanding their particular market.