The Am Law 100 2012, the annual law firm ranking of America's top 100 revenue grossing law firms compiled by ALM, has been released. Below is an overview and some key findings taken from this year's report at The American Lawyer website. For the full story, view ALM's coverage and/or purchase the entire report from ALM Legal Intelligence for $499.
"This year Baker & McKenzie tops our chart and DLA Piper, another verein, comes in second, knocking Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom out of that position. Latham & Watkins comes in fourth, with revenues topping $2 billion."
Am Law 100 1-10 from The American Lawyer
- 13 firms made more than $1 billion last year.
- Eighty firms reported gains in revenue, with the biggest gainer, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, posting 31.4 percent growth.
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz had the steepest decline at 4.8 percent, with Fulbright & Jaworski close behind, falling 4.5 percent.
- Gross revenue, revenue per lawyer (RPL), and profits per partner (PPP) for The Am Law 100 rose by single digits last year.
- Eighty-three firms posted revenue gains—25 more than in the previous year.
- The terrifying days of mass layoffs seemed to be over: Firms reversed course and added to their head count.
- Equity partners grew their ranks on average after two years of flat or negative growth.
- Both The Am Law 50 and The Am Law 51–100 reported 6 percent increases in gross, to totals of $50.9 billion and $20.1 billion, respectively.
- The Am Law 50 posted average profits per partner of $1.6 million last year—a 4.8 percent jump—versus The Am Law 51–100's 1.4 percent PPP rise, to $1.1 million.
- Gross revenue for the Am Law 100 rose 5.3 percent last year, to an average of $709,725,589. Firms continued to raise rates slightly, push work upward to partners, and see growth in their litigation, energy, and regulatory practices.
- Three of the five firms with the largest gain in gross revenue are:
- SNR Denton (formerly Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and Denton Wilde Sapte) (58% growth)
- Squire Sanders (previously Squire, Sanders & Dempsey and Hammonds) (43% growth)
- Edwards Wildman Palmer (née Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon) (18% growth)
- The Am Law 100 employed 86,272 attorneys in 2011, a 3.3 percent increase from 2010.
- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan had the biggest head count jump of a firm that was not involved in a major merger or verein combination. The Los Angeles firm added 190 lawyers—a 42 percent increase—and opened offices in Washington, D.C., and Moscow, while boosting its PPP 15 percent. The litigation powerhouse also reported the highest profit margin on our chart—64 percent.
- Mayer Brown and Hunton & Williams both showed double-digit RPL gains, too. These came on the heels of shrinking head counts—each firm shed more than 100 lawyers—a decline of 7.4 percent at Mayer Brown and 12 percent at Hunton.
- The Am Law 100 showed on average growth of 3 percent last year in profits per partner with Arnold & Porter and Alston & Bird posting PPP increases of 25 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
- Cutting into profits were technology upgrades, spring bonuses, and real estate–related expenses, according to firm leaders.
- There are four firms that are new to the list this year:
- Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith (new to the list)
- Barnes & Thornburg (new to the list)
- Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton (result of a merger)
- Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker (up from the Am Law 200 last year)
- There are four firms that were on the list last year, but not included this year:
- Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo
- Bracewell & Giuliani
- McKenna Long & Aldridge
- Husch Blackwell
Related Links:
InsideLegal 