If
you’ve
been
paying
any
attention
to
Biglaw
over
the
past
few
years,
the
headline
from
the
2026
Am
Law
100
rankings
won’t
shock
you:
the
industry
is
doing
extremely
well,
thank
you
very
much,
and
the
firms
at
the
top
have
absolutely
no
intention
of
sharing
the
view.
Let’s
break
it
down.
Kirkland
&
Ellis
is
still
sitting
at
No.
1
with
$10.556
billion
in
gross
revenue,
yes,
billion
with
a
B,
up
nearly
20
percent
from
the
prior
year.
Latham
&
Watkins
trails
at
$8.3
billion.
After
that,
it’s
a
significant
drop
to
DLA
Piper’s
$4.58
billion
at
No.
3.
The
most
notable
shuffling
in
the
top
10:
Gibson,
Dunn
&
Crutcher
climbed
one
spot
to
No.
4,
while
Skadden
slipped
one
to
No.
5.
Simpson
Thacher
had
the
most
dramatic
move,
jumping
two
spots
to
crack
the
top
10
at
No.
10
with
$3.55
billion,
a
nifty
22.66
percent
surge
that
should
make
their
partners
very
happy
indeed.
-
Kirkland
&
Ellis
—
$10.556B
(+19.93%) -
Latham
&
Watkins
—
$8.300B
(+18.57%) -
DLA
Piper
—
$4.583B
(+8.10%) -
Gibson
Dunn
—
$4.211B
(+18.37%) -
Skadden
—
$4.073B
(+11.00%) -
Sidley
Austin
—
$3.738B
(+8.68%) -
Ropes
&
Gray
—
$3.737B
(+9.39%) -
Baker
McKenzie
—
$3.640B
(+7.24%) -
White
&
Case
—
$3.594B
(+8.36%) -
Simpson
Thacher
—
$3.553B
(+22.66%)
Sixty-two
firms
cleared
the
$1
billion
revenue
threshold
in
2025,
up
from
58
the
year
before.
Ninety-four
firms
posted
revenue
gains.
The
one
firm
you
might
feel
mildly
bad
for?
Fragomen,
Del
Rey,
Bernsen
&
Loewy,
which
had
the
steepest
decline
at
-5.5
percent.
Immigration
work,
it
turns
out,
is
subject
to
forces
outside
the
firm’s
control.
If
gross
revenue
is
about
size,
revenue
per
lawyer
(RPL)
is
about
effectiveness.
And
here,
the
rankings
tell
a
different
story.
Wachtell,
Lipton,
Rosen
&
Katz,
a
firm
with
a
comparatively
modest
272
lawyers,
absolutely
dominates
at
$5.085
million
per
lawyer.
That’s
not
a
typo.
Per.
Lawyer.
The
gap
between
Wachtell
and
No.
2
Susman
Godfrey
($2.876
million)
is
staggering.
Susman,
for
its
part,
also
operates
relatively
leanly
with
just
226
lawyers.
Davis
Polk
rounds
out
the
top
three
at
$2.588
million
per
lawyer,
followed
by
Kirkland
at
$2.547
million.
Yes,
Kirkland’s
absolute
revenue
dominance
is
partly
a
function
of
having
4,145
lawyers,
but
they’re
still
remarkably
efficient
for
their
scale.
-
Wachtell
—
$5.085M
per
lawyer
(+13.71%) -
Susman
Godfrey
—
$2.876M
(+20.39%) -
Davis
Polk
—
$2.588M
(+19.70%) -
Kirkland
&
Ellis
—
$2.547M
(+10.79%) -
Ropes
&
Gray
—
$2.524M
(+8.33%) -
Sullivan
&
Cromwell
—
$2.507M
(+7.46%) -
Quinn
Emanuel
—
$2.453M
(+23.39%) -
Skadden
—
$2.319M
(+12.08%) -
Paul
Weiss
—
$2.318M
(+9.96%) -
Cravath
—
$2.255M
(-0.04%)
For
the
Am
Law
100
overall,
revenue
per
lawyer
increased
8.7
percent,
with
92
of
100
firms
posting
gains.
Littler
Mendelson
had
the
biggest
RPL
jump
at
33.73
percent
(the
firm
overall
had
an
extraordinary
year,
posting
40.89
percent
gross
revenue
growth).
Gordon
Rees
had
the
worst
showing
at
-15.79
percent.
And
now
for
the
number
every
equity
partner
actually
cares
about.
Wachtell
leads
the
profits
per
equity
partner
(PEP)
rankings
with
$12.152
million
per
equity
partner,
which,
by
the
way,
represents
a
34.48
percent
increase
over
last
year.
Kirkland’s
equity
partners
aren’t
crying
either,
at
$11.121
million
PEP
(up
20.19
percent).
Davis
Polk
checks
in
at
$9.8
million,
Quinn
Emanuel
at
$9.545
million,
and
Gibson
Dunn
at
$8.89
million.
-
Wachtell
—
$12.152M
PEP
(+34.48%) -
Kirkland
&
Ellis
—
$11.121M
(+20.19%) -
Davis
Polk
—
$9.800M
(+25.60%) -
Quinn
Emanuel
—
$9.545M
(+10.44%) -
Gibson
Dunn
—
$8.890M
(+23.90%) -
Latham
&
Watkins
—
$8.654M
(+21.29%) -
Paul
Weiss
—
$8.631M
(+14.45%) -
Simpson
Thacher
—
$8.569M
(+11.81%) -
Paul
Hastings
—
$8.330M
(+24.05%) -
Milbank
—
$7.620M
(+11.86%)
For
the
Am
Law
100
as
a
whole,
PEP
was
up
14
percent
in
2025.
Seventy
firms
had
growth
rates
of
at
least
10
percent.
Only
two
firms
—
two!
—
reported
PEP
declines.
The
market
for
top
legal
talent
remains,
to
put
it
diplomatically,
extremely
robust.
2025
was,
by
nearly
every
measure,
a
remarkable
year
for
Biglaw.
The
firms
that
were
already
dominant
got
more
dominant.
The
profits
flowing
to
equity
partners
reached
levels
that
would
have
seemed
absurd
a
decade
ago.
And
the
gap
between
the
haves
(Kirkland,
Wachtell,
Davis
Polk)
and
the
have-lesses
(firms
struggling
to
keep
laterals,
fighting
associate
attrition,
watching
revenue
go
sideways)
is
getting
harder
to
ignore.
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 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].