It's official, according to The Lawyer:  For Skadden and six other firms, 2005 was indeed, as Skadden's New York-based M&A partner Tom Kennedy put it, "a very good year." 

For the first time ever, seven US firms topped $1.0-billion in revenue, Skadden first among this august pack at $1.58B, and Weil-Gotshal at $1.00B (the suspiciously round number doubtless making some wonder if they've been taking accounting lessons from Jack Welch (and see this), but at "Adam Smith, Esq." we tend to take these reports at face value absent insider info to the contrary—which we utterly lack here).  Here's the breakdown of the top 20 US firms by revenue:

US TOP 20 FIRMS

Rank	Firm	Location	Rev 2005		Rev 2004		% change	PEP 2005		PEP 2004		% change
			($m)	(£m)	($m)	(£m)		($K)	(£K)	($K)	(£K)
1	Skadden	New York	1,580.0	903.7	1,440.0	823.7	10	1,850	1,058	1,735	992	6.5
2	Latham & Watkins	Los Angeles	1,400.0	800.8	1,206.0	689.8	16	1,600	915	1,405	804	14
3	Baker & McKenzie	Chicago	1,352.0	773.3	1,228.0	702.4	10	750	429	655	375	14.5
4	Jones Day	National	1,309.0	748.7	1,190.0	680.7	10	808	462	735	420	10
5	Sidley	New York	1,124.0	642.9	1,029.0	588.6	9	1,235	706	1,020	583	21
6	White & Case	New York	1,050.0	600.6	953.0	545.1	10	1,240	709	1,220	698	2
7	Weil Gotshal & Manges	New York	1,000.0	572.0	905.0	517.6	10.5	1,850	1,058	1,700	972	9
8	MBR&M	Chicago	979.0	560.0	911.0	521.1	7.5	968	554	905	518	7
9	Kirkland Ellis	Chicago	935.0	534.8	835.0	477.6	12	2,170	1,241	1,975	1,130	10
10	Sullivan & Cromwell	New York	916.0	523.9	833.0	476.5	10	2,590	1,481	2,350	1,344	10
11	Shearman & Sterling	New York	830.0	474.7	775.0	443.3	7	1,380	789	1,150	658	20
12	Wilmer Hale	Washington DC	815.0	466.2	750.0	429.0	8.5	915	523	870	498	5
13	Cleary Gottlieb	New York	813.0	465.0	695.0	397.5	17	1,970	1,127	1,715	981	15
14	O'Melveny & Myers	Los Angeles	808.0	462.2	697.0	398.7	16	1,610	921	1,310	749	23
15	Morgan Lewis	National	805.0	460.4	723.0	413.5	11	1,002	573	900	515	11
16	McDermott	Chicago	799.5	457.3	745.0	426.1	7	1,190	681	1,119	640	6
17	Greenberg Traurig	National	860.0	491.9	712.0	407.2	21	N/A	N/A	985	563	N/A
18	Gibson Dunn	Los Angeles	746.0	426.7	693.0	396.4	8	1,635	935	1,516	867	8
19	Simpson Thacher	New York	730.0	417.5	691.0	395.2	6	2,400	1,373	2,330	1,333	3
20	Hogan & Hartson	Washington, DC	690.0	394.7	630.0	360.3	9.5	900	515	825	472	9

The indubitable Financial Times, which has always covered law-land better than the WSJ, also has the story.

As you can see, more than half recorded revenue jumps in the double-digit percentages, and PPP increases were even better.

More impressive still?  What I call the "Complexity Quotient" of managing a sophisticated professional services firm.  According to my friends in management-consulting ranks, the rule of thumb they employ when estimated the challenges facing leaders of a professional services firm as contrasted to those facing management of a retail, manufacturing, or construction firm (say) is that $1.00 of professional service revenue is 5 times more complicated than $1.00 of garden-variety revenue. 

Which means Skadden isn't strictly comparable to a $1.5-billion/year "regular economy" firm, but rather to a $7.5-billion/year firm in more conventional sectors.  This would make them, by revenue, one-quarter the size of Intel, or nearly as large as the domestic video-game industry.

Which leads those of a contrarian frame of mind (moi?!) to pose the following question to you, smart and savvy readers:

Is there a natural limit to the size of global law firms?
	No; like global accounting firms and banks, they can grow to the sky.
	Yes; at some point the proliferation of conflicts will become insuperable.
	Yes; it will simply become impossible to manage such complex enterprises.
	Yes; extreme differences in profitability between practice groups will be fatally divisive.
	Yes; extreme differences in profitability between geographic regions will be fatally divisive.
	Only if the globalization of firms' Fortune/FTSE 100 client base stops.
	Only if a firm collapses in a spectacular implosion.
	Maybe, maybe not; I plan to be retired by then.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Rules of the poll road:

• I will leave it up for about 10 days.
• Multiple answers are permitted, but we trust your discretion in keeping them internally consistent.
• You'll read all about the results right here, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, my kudos to Earle Yaffa.