June 28, 2005
The AmLaw 100 For 2005
As promised, here's the AmLaw 100 for 2005. I'll have some substantive
commentary later today, but for now I'll primarily limit my gloss to that provided
by my friends at American Lawyer Media:
"Five Am Law
200 firms posted gross revenue in excess of $1 billion in 2004, the largest
number ever. Sidley Austin Brown & Wood
broke the billion-dollar barrier for the first time in 2004, while the
others did so previously -- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in
1999; Baker & McKenzie in 2001; and Latham & Watkins and Jones
Day in 2003."
My very quick and dirty calculation of the change in revenue over last year's AmLaw 100 is that at the top (Skadden, what a shock) the increase was 8.27% ($1.440-billion vs. $1.330-billion), while at the bottom (Ballard Spahr this year, Preston Gates last year) the increase was only 5.82% ($200-million vs. $189-million). Are the rich getting richer? Very preliminarily, it certainly looks that way.
The Billion-Dollar Club Expands
2004 Rank |
2003 Rank |
Firm | 2004 Gross Revenue |
Lawyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
1 |
Skadden | $1,440,000,000 |
1,554 |
2 |
2 |
Baker & McKenzie | $1,228,000,000 |
2,992 |
3 |
4 |
Latham & Watkins | $1,206,000,000 |
1,502 |
4 |
3 |
Jones Day | $1,190,000,000 |
2,076 |
5 |
5 |
Sidley Austin | $1,029,500,000 |
1,405 |
6 |
7 |
White & Case | $953,000,000 |
1,685 |
7 |
6 |
Mayer, Brown | $911,000,000 |
1,258 |
8 |
8 |
Weil, Gotshal | $905,000,000 |
1,080 |
9 |
10 |
Kirkland & Ellis | $835,000,000 |
897 |
10 |
11 |
Sullivan & Cromwell | $833,000,000 |
589 |
11 |
9 |
Shearman & Sterling | $775,000,000 |
963 |
12 |
58 |
Wilmer Cutler | $750,500,000 |
960 |
13 |
12 |
McDermott Will | $745,000,000 |
975 |
14 |
15 |
Morgan, Lewis | $723,500,000 |
1,112 |
15 |
20 |
Greenberg Traurig | $712,000,000 |
1,149 |
16 |
13 |
O'Melveny & Myers | $697,000,000 |
910 |
17 |
18 |
Cleary Gottlieb | $695,000,000 |
844 |
18 |
14 |
Gibson, Dunn | $693,000,000 |
745 |
19 |
19 |
Simpson Thacher | $691,000,000 |
632 |
20 |
21 |
Hogan & Hartson | $630,000,000 |
898 |
21 |
17 |
Akin Gump | $612,000,000 |
822 |
22 |
23 |
Paul, Hastings | $609,000,000 |
835 |
23 |
16 |
Davis Polk | $604,500,000 |
538 |
24 |
22 |
Morrison & Foerster | $593,000,000 |
882 |
25 |
27 |
Piper Rudnick | $580,500,000 |
905 |
26 |
26 |
Bingham McCutchen | $565,500,000 |
790 |
27 |
24 |
Holland & Knight | $551,000,000 |
1,155 |
28 |
25 |
Foley & Lardner | $542,500,000 |
869 |
29 |
28 |
Winston & Strawn | $516,500,000 |
793 |
30 |
32 |
Paul, Weiss | $504,000,000 |
480 |
31 |
33 |
Reed Smith | $503,500,000 |
881 |
32 |
30 |
Fulbright & Jaworski | $491,500,000 |
831 |
33 |
29 |
Orrick | $484,000,000 |
666 |
34 |
40 |
Debevoise & Plimpton | $478,500,000 |
536 |
35 |
36 |
Heller Ehrman | $472,000,000 |
628 |
36 |
37 |
King & Spalding | $470,000,000 |
707 |
37 |
37 |
Cravath | $455,000,000 |
389 |
37 |
34 |
Vinson & Elkins | $455,000,000 |
661 |
39 |
31 |
Arnold & Porter | $454,000,000 |
639 |
40 |
41 |
Dechert | $441,500,000 |
678 |
41 |
35 |
Hunton & Williams | $440,000,000 |
781 |
42 |
39 |
Pillsbury Winthrop | $432,500,000 |
643 |
43 |
42 |
Milbank, Tweed | $431,500,000 |
480 |
44 |
64 |
Wachtell | $431,000,000 |
197 |
45 |
43 |
Baker Botts | $420,000,000 |
643 |
46 |
51 |
Cadwalader | $416,000,000 |
486 |
46 |
52 |
Willkie Farr | $416,000,000 |
507 |
48 |
53 |
Sonnenschein | $411,000,000 |
660 |
49 |
55 |
Ropes & Gray | $404,500,000 |
501 |
50 |
50 |
Alston & Bird | $402,000,000 |
664 |
51 |
49 |
Proskauer Rose | $395,000,000 |
584 |
52 |
47 |
Squire, Sanders | $393,500,000 |
675 |
53 |
48 |
Dewey Ballantine | $380,500,000 |
524 |
54 |
46 |
Wilson Sonsini | $377,500,000 |
540 |
55 |
45 |
Bryan Cave | $372,500,000 |
726 |
55 |
62 |
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart | $372,500,000 |
697 |
57 |
57 |
Katten Muchin | $368,000,000 |
581 |
58 |
56 |
Kaye Scholer | $362,000,000 |
458 |
59 |
61 |
Fried, Frank | $359,000,000 |
438 |
60 |
54 |
LeBoeuf, Lamb | $356,500,000 |
601 |
61 |
44 |
Howrey | $352,000,000 |
525 |
62 |
67 |
Nixon Peabody | $348,000,000 |
593 |
63 |
65 |
McGuireWoods | $344,000,000 |
686 |
64 |
63 |
Covington & Burling | $337,500,000 |
463 |
65 |
59 |
Dorsey & Whitney | $330,000,000 |
619 |
66 |
73 |
Seyfarth Shaw | $313,000,000 |
603 |
67 |
69 |
Goodwin Procter | $302,500,000 |
433 |
68 |
72 |
Perkins Coie | $297,000,000 |
603 |
69 |
76 |
Schulte Roth | $292,000,000 |
354 |
70 |
68 |
Cooley Godward | $289,000,000 |
418 |
71 |
70 |
Baker & Hostetler | $284,000,000 |
605 |
72 |
80 |
Duane Morris | $264,000,000 |
480 |
73 |
71 |
Jenkens & Gilchrist | $258,000,000 |
435 |
74 |
79 |
Jenner & Block | $253,500,000 |
381 |
75 |
74 |
Shook, Hardy | $252,500,000 |
490 |
76 |
81 |
Blank Rome | $247,500,000 |
459 |
77 |
77 |
Chadbourne & Parke | $241,000,000 |
382 |
78 |
78 |
Thelen Reid | $240,000,000 |
413 |
79 |
83 |
Stroock & Stroock | $238,000,000 |
331 |
80 |
84 |
Kilpatrick Stockton | $236,000,000 |
442 |
81 |
90 |
Womble Carlyle | $233,000,000 |
475 |
82 |
93 |
Steptoe & Johnson | $232,500,000 |
335 |
83 |
75 |
Coudert Brothers | $230,000,000 |
552 |
83 |
92 |
Sheppard, Mullin | $230,000,000 |
366 |
85 |
82 |
Cahill Gordon | $227,000,000 |
242 |
86 |
86 |
Finnegan, Henderson | $225,000,000 |
292 |
87 |
95 |
Fish & Richardson | $224,500,000 |
304 |
88 |
91 |
Wilson, Elser | $222,000,000 |
675 |
89 |
86 |
Venable | $221,500,000 |
394 |
90 |
93 |
Andrews Kurth | $217,000,000 |
394 |
91 |
89 |
Mintz Levin | $216,500,000 |
373 |
92 |
88 |
Drinker Biddle | $213,500,000 |
426 |
93 |
85 |
Gray Cary | $213,000,000 |
350 |
93 |
96 |
Patton Boggs | $213,000,000 |
396 |
95 |
98 |
Haynes and Boone | $210,500,000 |
419 |
96 |
107 |
Pepper Hamilton | $209,500,000 |
382 |
97 |
97 |
Troutman Sanders | $206,500,000 |
468 |
98 |
101 |
Cozen O'Connor | $205,500,000 |
463 |
99 |
105 |
Faegre & Benson | $204,500,000 |
456 |
100 |
102 |
Ballard Spahr | $200,000,000 |
412 |
| 1 Due to the merger of Wilmer Cutler Pickering and Hale
and Dorr in June 2004, there is no year-over-year comparison for the merged
firm. |
||||
(The American Lawyer, July 2005) |
||||
Posted to Compensation | Finance | Globalization | Leadership | M&A | Strategy Printer-friendly version
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
"Adam Smith, Esq. is, and will remain, the definitive
voice on law firm strategy."
—David
Jabbari, Global Head of Know-How, Allen & Overy
"I just don't know what the profession would do without you."
—Chairman, AmLaw 25 firm
“Constantly stunning.’—Managing Partner
"I read three things: The Wall Street Journal, The Economist,
and Adam Smith, Esq.—and I tell my partners to do the same."
—Managing Partner, AmLaw 50 firm
“You have a fascinating niche which you cover ever so much better than
does the conventional legal press.”
—Walter Olson of Overlawyered
“Required reading: Amazing.”—Venture Capitalist
"You're the brand name in law firm economics. There is no one out
there—repeat, no one—who covers this business better, or thinks about
it more creatively, than you. I tell people this guy is really, really good."
—Chair/Managing Partner, AmLaw 50 firm
Business Pundit
CorporateCounsel.Net Blog
Conglomerate
BusFilm by Larry Ribstein
Business Pundit
Carnival of the Capitalists
Chicago Boyz
Ensight
Marginal Revolution
Ronald Coase Institute
Stephen Bainbridge
"Adam Smith, Esq.,"® an inquiry into the economics of law firms, and the maroon banner, are a federally registered trademark belonging to Adam Smith, Esq., LLC, which is partially owned and controlled by Bruce MacEwen.
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
