How
did
Biglaw
fare
in
2023?
We’ve
finally
moved
from
anecdotal
stories
of
highs
and
lows
and
gotten
some
real
data
with
the
announcement
of
American
Lawyer’s
2024
Am
Law
100.
And,
overall,
things
are
looking
pretty
good.
Not
the
epic
highs
of
the
pandemic,
but
a
pretty
solid
performance
from
Biglaw
mainstays.
As
American
Lawyer
notes,
“While
not
a
wholesale
return
to
the
historic
highs
of
2020
and
2021,
fiscal
2023
brought
collective
growth
in
revenue,
revenue
per
lawyer
and
profitability
metrics.”
Patrick
Smith
details
the
industry-wide
trends:
Overall,
the
industry
rebounded
from
a
difficult
2022
to
post
gains
in
virtually
every
measurable
financial
and
operational
metric.
On
a
high
level,
gross
revenue
was
up
6.8%
to
a
new
collective
all-time
high
of
$139.7
billion
in
2023.
(By
comparison,
it
was
up
2.7%
in
2022,
one
of
the
few
primary
metrics
to
land
in
the
black
that
year.)In
2022,
nearly
all
metrics
for
the
Am
Law
100
as
a
whole
were
in
the
red.In
2023,
Am
Law
100
firms
collectively
reversed
that.
The
100
firms
saw
gains
in
revenue
per
lawyer
(RPL),
by
4.9%
to
$1.21
million;
PEP
(9.3%
to
$2.80
million);
CAP
(6.2%
to
$1.75
million)
and
profits
per
lawyer
(6.2%
to
$517,821),
according
to
firm
data
and
American
Lawyer
reporting.
So,
enough
of
the
broad
strokes
—
how
did
specific
firms
stack
up?
Here’s
the
top
of
some
of
the
biggest
categories.
Gross
Revenue
Here’s
the
top
10
by
revenue…
which
looks
a
pretty
similar
to
last
year’s
top
10.
Full
100
list
available
here.
| Rank |
Rank Change |
Firm | Revenue |
Rev Change |
||
| 1 |
(no change) |
Kirkland | $7,208,000,000 | 10.65% | ||
| 2 |
(no change) |
Latham | $5,688,226,000 | 6.90% | ||
| 3 |
(no change) |
DLA Piper (verein) |
$3,829,531,000 | 3.92% | ||
| 4 |
(no change) |
Baker McKenzie (verein) |
$3,286,791,000 | -0.41% | ||
| 5 |
(no change) |
Skadden | $3,270,091,000 | 8.25% | ||
| 6 |
(no change) |
Sidley | $3,100,458,000 | 6.08% | ||
| 7 |
(up 2) |
Gibson Dunn |
$3,074,016,000 | 12.33% | ||
| 8 |
(up 2) |
Ropes & Gray |
$2,992,831,000 | 10.10% | ||
| 9 |
(down 2) |
White & Case |
$2,949,400,000 | 4.29% | ||
| 10 |
(down 2) |
Morgan Lewis |
$2,898,514,000 | 5.58% |
Revenue
Per
Lawyer
But,
of
course,
there
are
other
metrics
that
are
important
in
Biglaw.
Take,
for
example,
revenue
per
lawyer.
RPL
provides
a
relatively
accurate
picture
of
a
firm’s
overall
financial
well-being,
and
here
are
the
five
big
name
player
at
the
top
of
the
list.
Full
list
available
here.
| Rank | Firm | RPL |
% Change |
|||
| 1 | Wachtell | $4,272,000 | 20.58% | |||
| 2 |
Susman Godfrey |
$3,595,000 | 82.58% | |||
| 3 |
Sullivan & Cromwell |
$2,219,000 | 3.69% | |||
| 4 | Cravath | $2,200,000 | 11.85% | |||
| 5 | Kirkland | $2,051,000 | 7.49% |
Profits
Per
Equity
Partner
Wachtell
retook
their
position
at
the
top
of
this
ranking,
wresting
#1
out
of
Kirkland’s
hands.
The
full
Am
Law
100
profits
per
partner
chart
can
be
found
here.
| Rank | Firm | PEP |
% Change |
|||
| 1 | Wachtell | $8,507,000 | 16.63% | |||
| 2 | Kirkland | $7,955,000 | 5.84% | |||
| 3 |
Quinn Emanuel |
$7,270,000 | 39.03% | |||
| 4 |
Susman Godfrey |
$6,989,000 | 103.46% | |||
| 5 |
Paul Weiss |
$6,574,000 | 14.83% |
We
will
undoubtedly
have
even
more
to
say
as
we
dig
into
these
numbers.
But
it’s
good
to
see
the
Biglaw
rebound
is
well
in
effect.
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
@Kathryn1@mastodon.social.