Today we have the AmLaw 100 ranked by Revenue per Lawyer, one of
my favorite metrics. Why one of my favorites? First of
all, it provides insight into the extent to which a firm actually
achieves the Holy Grail sought by all—to do a larger proportion
of "premium," money-is-no-object, work. Everyone
claims to be focused on that magical realm, but the numbers
don’t lie.
And speaking of "numbers not lying," that’s the second reason this
is one of my favorite metrics: It’s a lot harder to game total
revenue and number of lawyers than it is to game profitability. This
strikes me as a pretty hard number, all things considered.
So what do we see? Some firms
clearly fall into the territory of [Revenue per Lawyer] ~ {[average
hourly rate] x 2,000}, which reveals a lot. At
the other extreme, the New York "bulge bracket" firms (Cravath, Davis
Polk, Paul-Weiss, Simpson Thacher, Sullivan & Cromwell) generate
over $1-million/year in revenue per lawyer, which means they’re by
no means charging it all on the clock.
And then of course there’s the predictable, perennial, stand-out
#1 leader, Wachtell, at nearly $2.4-million on this metric, over
47% higher than the second-place firm, Sullivan & Cromwell,
at $1.63-million.
Only eight firms in total are over $1-million on this score, although
Skadden and Shearman & Sterling missed that arbitrary cutoff by less
than $10,000 (I rounded the numbers to the nearest $1,000 in the
table that follows).
Bringing up the rear is Wilson Elser at $329,000, and smack at the
median point is LeBoeuf Lamb at $719,000.
The most interesting point to me? The relative flatness of
the distribution from #10 to #90. Sure, it covers a range of
$500,000 to $1,000,000, but the steep parts of the curve are at the
beginning and the end. Moral of the story: It’s very
very hard to excel, and by the same token you probably need to be
doing a number of things very poorly to end up on the dog-house tail.
Keep reading to see the whole chart.
And later
this weekend, I promise further analysis from
a friend who is a retired finance executive of a major US bank,
now a student of the legal industry, who sees some parallels
between our industry and banking, so plan to stop back at "Adam
Smith, Esq."
|
2005 Rank
|
2004 Rank
|
Firm
|
2005 Gross Revenue
|
Change From 2004
|
Lawyers
|
Revenue per Lawyer
|
|
49
|
44
|
Wachtell | $443,000,000 | 2.80% | 185 | $2,395,000 |
|
11
|
10
|
Sullivan & Cromwell | $875,000,000 | 5.00% | 538 | $1,627,000 |
|
40
|
37
|
Cravath | $500,500,000 | 10.00% | 391 | $1,281,000 |
|
26
|
23
|
Davis Polk | $604,500,000 | 0.00% | 529 | $1,143,000 |
|
20
|
19
|
Simpson Thacher | $727,000,000 | 5.20% | 647 | $1,124,000 |
|
32
|
30
|
Paul, Weiss | $563,000,000 | 11.70% | 546 | $1,032,000 |
|
19
|
18
|
Gibson, Dunn | $746,000,000 | 7.60% | 738 | $1,011,000 |
|
41
|
43
|
Milbank, Tweed | $496,000,000 | 14.90% | 494 | $1,005,000 |
|
1
|
1
|
Skadden | $1,610,000,000 | 11.80% | 1,616 | $997,000 |
|
13
|
11
|
Shearman & Sterling | $835,000,000 | 7.70% | 842 | $992,000 |
|
9
|
9
|
Kirkland & Ellis | $970,000,000 | 16.20% | 983 | $987,000 |
|
7
|
8
|
Weil, Gotshal | $1,016,500,000 | 11.90% | 1,066 | $954,000 |
|
42
|
46
|
Cadwalader | $483,000,000 | 16.10% | 514 | $940,000 |
|
37
|
34
|
Debevoise & Plimpton | $535,500,000 | 11.90% | 579 | $925,000 |
|
18
|
17
|
Cleary Gottlieb | $760,000,000 | 9.40% | 833 | $913,000 |
|
94
|
85
|
Cahill Gordon | $229,000,000 | 0.90% | 254 | $902,000 |
|
59
|
59
|
Fried, Frank | $390,000,000 | 8.60% | 438 | $891,000 |
|
2
|
3
|
Latham & Watkins | $1,412,500,000 | 17.10% | 1,615 | $875,000 |
|
67
|
69
|
Seyfarth Shaw | $321,000,000 | 9.90% | 371 | $866,000 |
|
49
|
46
|
Willkie Farr | $443,000,000 | 6.50% | 516 | $859,000 |
|
88
|
86
|
Finnegan, Henderson | $235,000,000 | 4.70% | 277 | $849,000 |
|
14
|
12
|
Wilmer Cutler | $815,000,000 | 8.60% | 964 | $846,000 |
|
34
|
49
|
Ropes & Gray | $558,000,000 | 37.90% | 664 | $841,000 |
|
15
|
16
|
O’Melveny & Myers | $808,000,000 | 15.90% | 977 | $828,000 |
|
46
|
39
|
Arnold & Porter | $465,500,000 | 2.50% | 571 | $816,000 |
|
43
|
35
|
Heller Ehrman | $475,000,000 | 0.60% | 590 | $806,000 |
|
84
|
87
|
Fish & Richardson | $246,500,000 | 9.80% | 306 | $806,000 |
|
62
|
58
|
Kaye Scholer | $383,500,000 | 5.90% | 478 | $803,000 |
|
89
|
103
|
Kramer Levin | $232,000,000 | 18.40% | 290 | $800,000 |
|
27
|
26
|
Bingham McCutchen | $593,000,000 | 4.90% | 750 | $791,000 |
|
39
|
37
|
Vinson & Elkins | $510,000,000 | 12.10% | 645 | $791,000 |
|
80
|
102
|
Dickstein Shapiro | $257,500,000 | 30.70% | 329 | $783,000 |
|
58
|
53
|
Dewey Ballantine | $392,500,000 | 3.20% | 502 | $782,000 |
|
79
|
79
|
Stroock & Stroock | $258,000,000 | 8.40% | 330 | $782,000 |
|
24
|
21
|
Akin Gump | $618,000,000 | 1.00% | 794 | $779,000 |
|
5
|
5
|
Sidley Austin | $1,124,000,000 | 9.20% | 1,454 | $774,000 |
|
17
|
13
|
McDermott Will | $799,500,000 | 7.30% | 1,034 | $774,000 |
|
63
|
64
|
Covington & Burling | $380,000,000 | 12.60% | 491 | $774,000 |
|
35
|
33
|
Orrick | $554,000,000 | 14.50% | 723 | $767,000 |
|
23
|
22
|
Paul, Hastings | $667,000,000 | 9.50% | 871 | $766,000 |
|
54
|
54
|
Wilson Sonsini | $412,000,000 | 9.10% | 548 | $752,000 |
|
78
|
82
|
Steptoe & Johnson | $258,500,000 | 11.20% | 344 | $752,000 |
|
8
|
7
|
Mayer, Brown | $980,000,000 | 7.60% | 1,307 | $750,000 |
|
53
|
67
|
Goodwin Procter | $415,000,000 | 37.20% | 554 | $750,000 |
|
100
|
103
|
Hughes Hubbard | $218,000,000 | 11.20% | 292 | $747,000 |
|
47
|
51
|
Proskauer Rose | $453,500,000 | 14.80% | 609 | $745,000 |
|
21
|
20
|
Hogan & Hartson | $700,000,000 | 11.10% | 953 | $735,000 |
|
22
|
24
|
Morrison & Foerster | $687,000,000 | 15.90% | 935 | $735,000 |
|
72
|
74
|
Jenner & Block | $287,500,000 | 13.40% | 393 | $732,000 |
|
70
|
70
|
Cooley Godward | $298,000,000 | 3.10% | 413 | $722,000 |
|
51
|
60
|
LeBoeuf, Lamb | $440,000,000 | 23.40% | 612 | $719,000 |
|
31
|
29
|
Winston & Strawn | $571,000,000 | 10.60% | 796 | $718,000 |
|
61
|
61
|
Howrey | $384,500,000 | 9.20% | 540 | $713,000 |
|
75
|
78
|
Thelen Reid | $278,000,000 | 15.80% | 392 | $710,000 |
|
77
|
83
|
Sheppard, Mullin | $264,000,000 | 14.80% | 372 | $710,000 |
|
29
|
40
|
Dechert | $577,000,000 | 30.70% | 823 | $702,000 |
|
52
|
45
|
Baker Botts | $434,500,000 | 3.50% | 624 | $697,000 |
|
16
|
14
|
Morgan, Lewis | $804,500,000 | 11.20% | 1,176 | $685,000 |
|
25
|
28
|
Foley & Lardner | $610,500,000 | 12.50% | 892 | $685,000 |
|
10
|
25
|
Piper Rudnick | $890,500,000 | – | 1,303 | $684,000 |
|
38
|
36
|
King & Spalding | $514,500,000 | 5.80% | 755 | $682,000 |
|
48
|
48
|
Sonnenschein | $448,000,000 | 9.00% | 662 | $677,000 |
|
60
|
57
|
Katten Muchin | $386,500,000 | 5.00% | 577 | $670,000 |
|
30
|
42
|
Pillsbury Winthrop | $574,000,000 | 32.70% | 862 | $666,000 |
|
12
|
15
|
Greenberg Traurig | $860,500,000 | 20.90% | 1,334 | $646,000 |
|
36
|
32
|
Fulbright & Jaworski | $539,000,000 | 9.70% | 858 | $629,000 |
|
92
|
77
|
Chadbourne & Parke | $229,500,000 | -4.80% | 368 | $624,000 |
|
33
|
31
|
Reed Smith | $562,500,000 | 11.70% | 913 | $617,000 |
|
55
|
52
|
Squire, Sanders | $410,000,000 | 4.20% | 680 | $603,000 |
|
4
|
4
|
Jones Day | $1,285,000,000 | 8.00% | 2,136 | $602,000 |
|
95
|
90
|
Andrews Kurth | $225,000,000 | 3.70% | 374 | $602,000 |
|
64
|
62
|
Nixon Peabody | $373,500,000 | 7.30% | 622 | $601,000 |
|
6
|
6
|
White & Case | $1,046,000,000 | 9.80% | 1,744 | $600,000 |
|
57
|
50
|
Alston & Bird | $395,000,000 | -1.60% | 661 | $598,000 |
|
90
|
96
|
Pepper Hamilton | $231,000,000 | 10.30% | 387 | $597,000 |
|
43
|
41
|
Hunton & Williams | $475,000,000 | 8.00% | 798 | $596,000 |
|
97
|
107
|
Sutherland Asbill | $222,000,000 | 18.40% | 374 | $594,000 |
|
71
|
72
|
Duane Morris | $290,500,000 | 10.00% | 490 | $593,000 |
|
86
|
89
|
Venable | $239,500,000 | 8.10% | 407 | $589,000 |
|
91
|
91
|
Mintz, Levin | $230,000,000 | 6.20% | 391 | $589,000 |
|
74
|
117
|
Edwards Angell | $278,500,000 | – | 485 | $575,000 |
|
69
|
68
|
Perkins Coie | $318,000,000 | 7.10% | 555 | $573,000 |
|
76
|
76
|
Blank Rome | $266,000,000 | 7.50% | 468 | $569,000 |
|
68
|
65
|
Dorsey & Whitney | $318,500,000 | -3.50% | 563 | $566,000 |
|
45
|
55
|
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart | $469,000,000 | 25.90% | 837 | $561,000 |
|
97
|
93
|
Patton Boggs | $222,000,000 | 4.20% | 401 | $554,000 |
|
82
|
80
|
Kilpatrick Stockton | $250,500,000 | 6.10% | 455 | $551,000 |
|
96
|
92
|
Drinker Biddle | $223,000,000 | 4.40% | 408 | $547,000 |
|
56
|
55
|
Bryan Cave | $398,500,000 | 7.00% | 733 | $544,000 |
|
66
|
66
|
Seyfarth Shaw | $336,500,000 | 7.50% | 633 | $532,000 |
|
85
|
75
|
Shook, Hardy | $246,000,000 | -2.60% | 471 | $523,000 |
|
92
|
99
|
Faegre & Benson | $229,500,000 | 12.20% | 449 | $512,000 |
|
65
|
63
|
McGuireWoods | $341,000,000 | -0.90% | 674 | $506,000 |
|
28
|
27
|
Holland & Knight | $581,500,000 | 5.50% | 1,168 | $498,000 |
|
83
|
97
|
Troutman Sanders | $249,000,000 | 20.60% | 501 | $498,000 |
|
87
|
81
|
Womble Carlyle | $238,000,000 | 2.10% | 505 | $472,000 |
|
73
|
71
|
Baker & Hostetler | $284,000,000 | 0.00% | 605 | $470,000 |
|
99
|
98
|
Cozen O’Connor | $220,500,000 | 7.30% | 482 | $458,000 |
|
3
|
2
|
Baker & McKenzie | $1,352,000,000 | 10.10% | 2,984 | $454,000 |
|
81
|
88
|
Wilson Elser | $255,000,000 | 14.90% | 777 | $329,000 |
