We know that despite the turmoil of COVID, Biglaw has done pretty well for itself over they last few years, see, e.g., the fire lateral market. But we haven’t quantified just how good 2021 was. Enter the Am Law 100.
The latest ranking from ALM takes the top 100 Biglaw firms and ranks them by gross revenue. The highlights from the report reveal there were a TON of Biglaw firms raking in the dough in 2021. Indeed, every — that’s right, ALL OF THE FIRMS — on the Am Law 100 had an increase in gross revenue in 2021 over 2020.
Plus, an impressive 52(!) Biglaw firms crossed over into the billion-dollar club, meaning they took in over a billion dollars in gross revenue in 2021. That is… a lot of firms. Here are those firms, in order of gross revenue:
- Kirkland
- Latham
- DLA Piper
- Baker McKenzie
- Skadden
- White & Case
- Sidley
- Ropes & Gray
- Hogan Lovells
- Morgan Lewis
- Gibson Dunn
- Jones Day
- Simpson Thacher
- Norton Rose
- Greenberg Traurig
- Cooley
- Goodwin Procter
- Davis Polk
- Weil
- Paul Weiss
- Mayer Brown
- King & Spalding
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Mc Dermott
- Quinn Emanuel
- Paul Hastings
- Covington
- Reed Smith
- Cleary Gottlieb
- Holland & Knight
- Milbank
- Dechert
- Wilson Sonsini
- Debevoise
- Orrick
- Wilmer
- Morrison & Foerster
- Akin Gump
- Wilkie
- K&L Gates
- Proskauer
- Perkins Come
- Winston & Strawn
- Squire Patton
- Wachtell
- Arnold & Porter
- Troutman Pepper
- Foley & Lardner
- Alston & Bird
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard Mullin
- Cravath
You can check out the full ranking here.
For the fifth year in a row, Kirkland has stayed on top of the gross revenue mountain — taking in over $6 billion. In the number two spot, Latham made $5.4 billion in gross revenue. Overall, the top 100’s revenue went up 14.8 percent this year. Revenue per lawyer was up 12.5 percent (the top firm by that metric, by a healthy margin, is Wachtell) and profits per equity partner were up 19.4 percent (Wachtell also took the top spot in the PPEP ranks).
We will undoubtedly have even more to say as we dig into these numbers. But what’s clear is Biglaw had a very good year. Let’s see if they can keep it up.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
