ALMResearchBlog

The Am Law 100: In the News

The Am Law 100, the legal industry's equivalent of the Fortune 500, was released yesterday and it seems everyone has lots to say about those numbers--available, by the way, through the ALM Research Online Store (free to subscribers; $275 for non-subscribers). First of all,The American Lawyer magazine has a variety of stories which look at the 100 from various angles, including:

• Lessons of The Am Law 100 (“The big firms just finished the best five-year economic run since we began keeping records.”);
• Behind the Numbers (“Am Law 100 firms all have high gross revenues, but when it comes to translating that money into payouts for equity partners, the similarities end. Average profits per partner among the firms vary widely, from a low of $410,000 at Littler Mendelson to a high of $4.945 million at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.”);
• The Sky’s the Limit (“Profits per partner of $20 million? Revenues of $23 billion? A business school professor offers startling projections for the Am Law 100 of 2025”); and
• Trouble at Heller Ehrman (“Heller Ehrman has suffered a relentless plague of partner defections. Can management end the pain?”).

And now other media have begun to weigh in:

• 2007 Was a Year to Feast, but Is It a Prelude to Famine? On Law.com's Legal Blog Watch (“2007 was a banner year for the nation's top law firms according to the much anticipated American Lawyer 2008 Am Law 100 Report, which hit the streets today.”);
• Is the Golden Age of Growth Over? On the Wall St. Journal Law Blog (“For a lot of law-firm managing-partner types, today is a big day, as the AmLaw 100 hits their in-boxes. The AmLaw 100, or the American Lawyer magazine’s annual list of the top-grossing law firms for the year previous, represents not only a boatload of work for AmLaw staffers. For law firm heads, it’s a report card of sorts.”)
• How New York Firms Fared, from New York Lawyer (“Despite a looming recession, most of New York's top law firms reached new economic heights in 2007.”); and of course
• All Hail the Am Law 100! on the Above the Law Blog.

Just think-- we get to go through this again next month when the second half of The Am Law 200 is published!

AmLaw 100: Just Weeks Away

The 2008 Am Law 100 will be available May 1st. The report of the 100 highest-grossing law firms in the U.S. appears in the May issue of The American Lawyer, and simultaneously, the data and a spreadsheet product with the data will be available from ALM Research Online for subscribers.

Non-subscribers may order ahead of time through ALM Research and save $200 on the full Am Law 200 spreadsheet. Purchasers will receive a special discount code to use when purchasing the Am Law 200, which will be published and available June 1st.

Firm Financials: Report from Atlanta

Each year ALM Media’s Atlanta-based newspaper, the Fulton County Daily Report publishes a regional version of The Am Law 200, called the Daily Report Dozen —which seems to have expanded to 16 firms this year (listed below). The report focuses on the Atlanta-based office of firms, whether they are based in Georgia or elsewhere. Though one needs a subscription to see the full report—and here is a sample for King & Spalding if you follow the Daily Report’s Blog, you would have access to all reports.

Each report is rather attractively laid out, as well as informative, and includes financials, a short bio of the firm, number of lawyers, lateral hires and losses, significant transactional and litigation work during 2007, office locations and number of lawyers in each, significant clients, and occasional other interesting factoids.

• King & Spalding
• Alston & Bird
• Smith Grambrell
• Fisher Phillips
• Troutman Sanders
• Sutherland Asbill
• Kilpatrick Stockton
• Ogletree Deakins
• McKenna Long & Aldridge
• Womble Carlyle
• Powell Goldstein
• Morris, Manning
• Seyfarth Shaw
• Jones Day
• Hunton & Williams
• Paul Hastings

Big Lobbying Practices See a Billion-Dollar Year

D.C.-based newspaper Legal Times has published their annual report on the lobbying industry, including a ranking of the 50 highest-grossing lobbying practices in the U.S. The 2008 Influence 50 rankings show that some of the biggest players in the lobbying world raked in multimillion-dollar increases in fees from public relations, legislative activity monitoring, and grass-roots advocacy, according to Legal Times. The survey, which covers annual income from lobbying work for 2007, also reveals that law firms are continuing to outpace non-law lobbying firms in revenue. Overall, revenue among the Influence 50 was up 11 percent. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is No. 1 on the list for the second consecutive year, with $89.8 million in lobbying income. Patton Boggs was a close runner-up, pulling down $89.3 million.

Firm Financials: More Firms Report FY 2007 Results

According to the Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia-based Blank Rome reported an 11% gain in revenues for fiscal year 2007, winding up the year with $315 million. Profits per equity partner (PPP) saw the most growth of all the firm's financial indicators, jumping by 14.7%, from $580,000 to $665,000 in 2007. A portion of that growth has to do with changes in Blank Rome's partnership tiers, the newspaper reported.

Another report from LI says that the Philadelphia office of DLA Piper “blew the doors off” of the budgets in terms of utilization, revenue and profits in 2007, bringing in $43.5 million of the firm's more than $2.14 billion in revenue and profits "well into the seven figures."  Prorofits per equity partner (PPP) are higher globally than in the U.S. he PPP increased by 8.5% from $1.18 million to $1.28 million globally. That number grew by 8.9% in the United States, from $1.12 million in 2006 to $1.22 million in 2007.

Financials: Four More Firms Report In

The news continues to dribble in about how fiscal year 2007 played out for U.S. This report from Legal Week reported that Debevoise & Plimpton unveiled “stellar” results, with partner profits and gross revenue climbing more than 20%; total revenue was reported to be $709.5 million.

Mayer Brown’s returns, at least outside the U.S., were not so rosy, according to this Legal Week report, with profits for the London and Brussels offices falling 8%. Gross revenue, on the other hand was solid; the two offices finished the year at £103.5 million (approximately $US 209.2 million).

Meanwhile, Reed Smith’s year was apparently very good, according to this report from The Recorder, and due to the firm’s “hiring spree” last year. Partner profits have surpassed $1 million and average revenue per lawyer is about $690,000, according to the report. Gross revenue for 2007? The report didn’t mention it, but based on these figures and their lawyer and partner head counts in the most recent NLJ 250 Survey, that would translate into just under $1 billion in revenue for 2007, though we’ll have to wait for this year’s Am Law 100 to find out for sure (May issue of The American Lawyer).

And “merger-seeking” Wolf Block has grown its revenue by 10%, according to a report by the Legal Intelligencer, to wind up the year at about $173 million. Profits per equity partner moved up at about the rate of inflation, 3.5%, to an average of $502,000 per equity partner.

Law Firm Revenues: Many More Firms Announce FY 2007 Results

We’ve been tracking the reports, as they are published, of how Am Law 200 and Global 100 firms fared financially in 2007. And now we can hardly keep up!  In the last week, we’ve heard that the first year since their merger was a good one for New York-based Dewey & LeBoeuf, with a report that the firm was the latest to break the $1 billion mark for gross revenue. Average partner profits were similarly impressive, according to Legal Week, at $1.57 million for the year.

London’s Denton Wilde Sapte’s gross revenue for last year was around $310 million, and profits were up 34% --or 50%, depending upon which Legal Week report you read. No report yet on revenue (turnover) yet. The Brits, however, typically have a fiscal year-end that coincides with the end of the calendar first quarter.

In reports on the Pennsylvania market, Saul Ewing’s revenue increased by 1.6%, to $124 million, but both PPP and RPL were down, according to Legal Intelligencer; Ballard Spahr had a more successful year, with revenue up 15%, according to LI, to $280 million; the firm also saw modest increases in PPP and RPL. In yet another report, LI said that Buchanan Ingersoll’s revenue was up 4%, and profits per equity partner up even more, 9%.

And then came this report from the Wall St. Journal Law Blog about how the “lackluster economy is taking its toll on big firms, and not just at those which had beefed up on mortgage-related work.” The report included figures on revenue and profits for 40 different U.S. firms—too many to name individually here.

Previous blog posts about 2007 firm financials can be accessed here, here, here, here, here and here.

Firm Financials: Is That in Dollars or Pounds?

The largest firm in the U.S., the U.S. portion of international firm DLA, has announced that its worldwide revenue for fiscal year was $2.1 billion, up 18.7% since the previous year, according to this report in National Law Journal. However, only the U.S. portion of that revenue will count towards the annual Am Law 100 rankings. In 2007, DLA ranked 11th in the AmLaws, with $1,016,000,000 in revenues for its U.S. operations. An 18% increase to these revenues would put them at about $1,199,000. Will that be enough to at least land firmly within the top 10?  Stay tuned.

Firm Financials: A “Big Four” in California?

As explained by the CalLaw Blog, Legal Pad, traditionally there has been the “Big Three” in California, much as the U.K. has its “Magic Circle” firms. The three are: Latham & Watkins, Gibson Dunn, and O’Melveny. But now, Legal Pad argues, it’s time to add another firm to the biglaw club.   

Paul Hastings, the next-largest firm in California, has turned in some impressive financials for 2007, with gross revenue up a “whopping” 20% to $975 million, according to this report, and profits per equity partner also up a “whopping” 20%, to $1.6 million.

The PPP puts the firm just about equivalent with Gibson Dunn, and is arguably a shade better than O’Melveny’s $1.6 million PPP—because their PPP has remained flat for the past two years, Legal Pad argues. And Paul Hasting’s revenue, while still way behind Latham’s, is just ahead of Gibson and O’Melveny.

So, what’s it going to be?  Will the “Big Three” become the “Big Four”?  Or will one of the other firms get booted out of the club?

More Firm Financials: 2007 Was a Good Year

Bryan Cave has released its 2007 financials, and the report from Legal Week is that firmwide revenues were up 14%, to $469.1 million. The same report says that Hogan & Hartson has also announced impressive returns for the previous fiscal year, with revenues up 16.6% to $880 million and profits per equity partner climbing by almost 18% to $1.19 million.

Meanwhile, this report in the Legal Intelligencer notes that Dechert has increased profits per equity partner by 18.1%, to $2.35 million, grew its gross revenue by nearly 15%, to wind up the year with $836 million.

Firm Financials: $2 Billion is the New $1 Billion—for U.S. Firms, That Is

It seems like yesterday (it was June, 2000) that Skadden Arps became the first firm to break the $1 billion barrier in annual gross revenues for their recently concluded fiscal year (1999). Within two years, they were joined by Baker & McKenzie, and two years later the 2004 Am Law 100 announced the arrival of Jones Day and Latham & Watkins into this exclusive club. In 2005, Sidley Austin joined the ranks, and in 2006 two more firms announced they had earned more than $1 billion in gross revenue in the preceding year: White & Case and Weil Gotshal.

In last year’s Am Law 100, there were 11 law firms in all that were in the $1 billion-plus stratosphere, when four more firms announced their earnings: Kirkland & Ellis, Mayer Brown, Greenberg Traurig, and DLA Piper.

But it looks like 2008 is already turning into a whole new ballgame, with $2 billion in annual revenue becoming what $1 billion was just eight short years ago. Latham & Watkins was the first to make the announcement, with pundits presenting the possibility that another firm might finally unseat Skadden from its almost-uninterrupted reign as the number one king of the AmLaws, since the list debuted in 1985 (international firm Baker & McKenzie briefly upstaged New York’s Skadden on the 1993 and 1994 lists).

But Skadden has already announced that it, too, has broken the $2 billion barrier for its 2007 gross revenue. (See this ABA Journal report ). And then DLA Piper announced that they are in the $2 billion-plus club also. (See this Legal Week report) However, DLA’s $2 billion is from their combined global enterprise in the U.K. and the U.S. And the Am Law 100 includes only the U.S. division of DLA.

Stay tuned. We haven’t heard from the rest of Am Law $1 billion club members yet. Meanwhile keep this in mind: two U.K. firms broke the $2 billion barrier last year—Clifford Chance and Linklaters. So, for U.S. firms this is a game of catch-up, rather than breaking all the barriers.

Law Firm Financials: More News About How FY 2007 Played Out

A picture of how the annual Am Law 200 list will play out is gradually beginning to emerge.   Legal Week reported this week that Dechert has unveiled double-digit increases in revenue ($836.3 million) and profits per equity partner ($2.35 million). Paul Weiss also saw healthy increases in 2007, according to the report, with revenue up almost 10% to $651 million, and profits per equity partner up 4% to $2.6 million. McDermott Will & Emery posted a 14% revenue increase to reach $978 million, and an 8% rise in profits per equity partner, which reached $1.52 million.

This Legal Week report says that Weil Gotshal & Manges has broken the $2 million barrier for partner profits in 2007, as Manhattan rival Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy becomes the latest U.S. firm to post double-digit increases in both revenue and profit. Profits per equity partner at Weil Gotshal improved by 11% to reach $2.11 million, while revenue increased by 12% to $1.175 billion. Milbank, meanwhile, recorded an 18.8% surge in global fee income, LW reported, to finish the year with  $642.5 million, while profits per equity partner rose by a similar amount, up 16.4% to $2.53 million.

In another Legal Week report, Baker Botts is said to have also posted strong financials for 2007, with an increase in revenues of almost 15% ($502.7 million), and an impressive 18.6% increase in profits per equity partner. And in yet another LW report, King & Spalding was reported to have increased both revenue and partner profits by 6%, with $615.3 million in revenue and $1.31 million in profits per equity partner for the year 2007.

And, below the radar of The Am Law 200 are all the other firms on the planet. This report in the Legal Intelligencer focuses on how midsize firms in Pennsylvania fared last year. LI said that many of these firms saw increases in revenue, staffing and clientele that either met or exceeded their expectations. Firms included in the report are: Dilworth Paxson, Hartman Underhill & Brubaker, Kaplin Stewart Meloff Reiter & Stein, McNees Wallace & Nurick, Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, Tucker Arensberg, and Woodcock Washburn.

Firm Financials: Latham Could Surpass Skadden as Top-Grossing Firm

That was the situation posed by The Recorder in reporting Latham & Watkins’s year-end financials recently. The San Francisco-based newspaper said that Latham posted 2007 revenues of just over $2 billion, which was a “whopping” 23% over their previous year’s results. Could the Los Angeles-based firm move into number one place in this year’s Am Law 100? The Recorder says yes—IF Skadden posts anything short of a solid financial year. To stay on top, Skadden, which has not yet reported revenues, will need to show an increase of at least 8% from 2006 – “very likely, given its recent history, but not guaranteed,” the report said. Latham also reported $2.2 million profits per partner, which was “a similarly massive year-over-year increase.”

Other firm financials mentioned in The Recorder’s February 8th report included Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, (grew revenue 12%, to $908 million); O'Melveny & Myers, (3% growth in RPL; PPP flat, at $1.64 million); Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton (RPL climbed 12%, to $800,000; PPP up 19% to $1.2 million); Irell & Manella (double-digit gains in revenue and RPL, to $227 million and $1.2 million, respectively; PPP up to $1.9 million); Munger, Tolles & Olson (double-digit increase in revenues and RPL, to $227 million and $1.2 million; PPP climbed to $1.3 million); Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps (grew revenue 6% to $110.5 million; RPL nearly flat at $610,000; PPP up nearly 7%, to $605,0000); Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (revenues climbed 14% to $242 million; modest RPL growth of 5%; PPP up 14% to $1.25 million); Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges (a “stunning” 29% increase in revenues to $384.5 million; $3.01 million in PPP; RPL growth more modest, with a 7% increase to $1.09 million).

Financials: Mixed 2007 Year-End Figures from BigLaw Firms

There have been a rash of reports lately as the year-end revenue and profit figures from the big law firms reveal what happened to them in 2007. Dorsey & Whitney, for instance, has reported an astounding 30% increase in profits, according to this report in Legal Week.

In no particular order: McDermott, Will & Emery posted an 8% rise in profits, according to this report in Legal Week, while Paul, Weiss saw a “modest” increase in profits (4%), according to this report.  This report in Legal Week said that year-end financials for the London offices of  White & Case and Weil, Gotshal & Manges were “sterling,” with W&C reporting a 37% increase in revenue, or “turnover,” and WGM almost doubling profits. And this report on NewYorkLawyer.com said that WilmerHale’s 9% gain in profits were due to modest hiring and practice diversification.

Cadwalader didn’t do so well, reporting a 6% drop in profits, according to this report. And Greenberg Traurig, according to this report, planned to freeze some salaries because of a $10 million shortfall on year-end collections. However, the Florida-based firm still predicted double-digit growth in revenue for 2007.

New Release: The Global 100

The American Lawyer has just published the 2007 Global 100 rankings and once again top three firms on the planet, based on annual gross revenue, are Clifford Chance, Linklaters, and Skadden Arps. But after that, there's been a bit of shuffling of the deck since last year's list. This year, Baker & McKenzie is in 4th place (last year, the firm was 6th), with a gross revenue that is different than what was presented in the annual Am Law 100. This is due to Baker & McKenzie's rather inconvenient fiscal year end, June 30th--two months after the publication of the Am Law 100 report. (Most American law firms' fiscal year coincides with the calendar year; most British, Canadian, and Australian firms' fiscal year ends at the end of the first quarter of the year.)

This year, the Global 100 chart was compiled in conjunction with our new sister publication, Legal Week this year. Note that there are actually three "Global 100" charts: the key chart ranks by gross revenue, and a second chart ranks by size (number of lawyers). A third chart ranks firms by their profits per equity partner; only firms on the first two charts are considered for these rankings. In all, there are 113 firms that made one or both of the first two charts.

The Global 100 in searchable spreadsheet format is now available through the ALM Research Store, and it includes all the data points covered in the three charts. The data from the Global 100 charts is now archived in the ALM Research Online database for subscriber searches.

In-House Law Departments: Salaries, Spending

According to Altman Weil’s  2007 Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey, total compensation for in-house lawyers in management jumped 8% to 14% this year, and 4.5% to 23% for non-management lawyers. A report of the survey appeared in the National Law Journal. For chief legal officers, salaries rose 5.8% to a median $300,000 in 2007, while bonus dollars spiked 43% to $157,400. Division general counsel collected a 10.2% salary increase for a median of $232,000, plus a median $104,600 bonus. The survey includes data from 343 law departments with 8,148 lawyers and 72 one-lawyer departments.

Another recent NLJ article (In-house costs outpace outside counsel spending) reported on Hildebrandt International’s 2007 Law Department Survey and said that corporate legal spending increased 6% over the past year, with increases in internal spending (8%) outpacing external expenditures (3%). Total cash compensation for in-house attorneys, including salaries and bonus, climbed 10% last year, compared with 7.5% during the previous year, according to Hildebrandt’s study, which included 202 companies employing an average of 4.2 lawyers. They also surveyed companies' U.S. and international operations, and found that the median company has global revenue of $10 billion, spends nearly $30 million on legal matters and staff and has a U.S. law department with almost 30 layers and 60 staffers. The median company also shells out 58% of its U.S. legal spending on outside counsel and 40% on inside legal costs. Chief Legal Officer's total cash compensation rose $50,000 to nearly $900,000, with the median total at $800,000. General counsel's average cash compensation spiked 19% to $700,000.

Firm Financials: Baker & McKenzie

The Am Law 200 has barely been assimilated into our archives, and now Baker & McKenzie, which has a different fiscal year cycle than most of the other top firms, has announced that its gross revenue for the 2006-2007 fiscal year has risen by 20% and its profits per equity partner have broken $1 million. Still, though it’s the largest firm in the world based on number of lawyers, Baker will continue to trail AmLaw number-one firm, Skadden Arps, which registered $1.829 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2006.

But all the U.S. firms will have to take a back seat to U.K.’s “magic circle” firms in the upcoming 2007 Global 100 (October issue of The American Lawyer). Using today’s conversion rates, Clifford Chance is destined to take the top spot, with about $2.366 billion in revenue, and Linklaters is not far behind, with $2.222 billion, followed Freshfields with approximately $1.954 billion.

For those who want to get a jump on how the Global list will play out, financials for The Am Law 200 are available through the ALM Research Store. Our sister publication in London, Legal Week, has their Top 50 available in PDF format. 

Law Firm Financials: U.S. and U.K. Firm Reports

Though it will be four months before the 2007 Global 100 list is published (The American Lawyer’s October issue), it doesn’t take rocket science to see how things are beginning to stack up. Global rankings are based on revenues of the most recent fiscal year. For U.S. firms, the story’s already been told in The Am Law 200. For U.K. firms, the results have been gradually leaking out in various reports.

A report from American Lawyer focused on the financials of mid-market Brit firms, versus those of two magic circle firms, mentioning CMS Cameron McKenna, Simmons & Simmons, Taylor Wessing, Clifford Chance, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. London’s LegalWeek.com has been delivering almost-daily reports, recently covering the year-end financials for DLA Piper, Freshfields, Camerons, Stephenson Harwood, Taylor Wessing, and Dundas & Wilson.

Revenues: Pennsylvania Firms

The Am Law 200 was released earlier this month, and is now available in spreadsheet format via ALM Research Online. Interestingly enough, much attention was focused on Philadelphia firms this month. One of The American Lawyer's key articles accompanying the list was Fox Rothschild's growth spurt breaks all the rules, in which Amy Kolz reported that the firm "seeks to be one-stop shop for the middle market, providing clients with a range of legal services at a reasonable price." "Fox has added seven new practice areas -- including gaming, franchising, biotech and premises security -- to bring its total to 40," Kolz wrote. But meanwhile, Philly's The Legal Intelligencer reported that the number of Pennsylvania firms among the Am Law Second Hundred had dwindled this year - but that was because many had moved into the ranks for the Am Law 100, including Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll.

The Am Law Second Hundred: Mind the Gap

The overall message that The American Lawyer sent out with its publication of The Am Law 200 (June 2007 issue) is that the gap between the Am Law 100 and the Second Hundred is growing wider. This year’s coverage includes an interesting take on how the 200 law firms would look as investment vehicles. The result includes a chart ranking firms based on a growth and profit index. The top five “blue chip” firms are Wachtell, Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher, and Paul Weiss.

As a reminder, all the data from The Am Law 200 is now available to subscribers of ALM Research Online in the database, and a spreadsheet with all the data is available for sale. Click here to purchase and download a copy.

Financials: U.K. Firms

London-based LegalWeek.com continues to report on the year-end financials for the large British firms, whose fiscal year ended with the first quarter of 2007. Freshfields has broken the £1m profits per equity partner (PEP) figure for the first time, while gross revenue (“turnover”) at the magic circle firm stands just short of £1bn (US$ 1,974,423,511). According to LW, provisional figures from the show profits per equity partner are up 25% from the previous year, with each of the firm’s partners pocketing on average £1,036,000 (US$2,045,318).

Addleshaw Goddard broke the £500,000 average profits per equity partner barrier for the first time, with a 14.8% in the last fiscal year. This year’s figure was £542,000 (US$1,069,991), while gross revenue at the national firm was up 13.1% to a new mark of £176.7m (US$348,832,973). At Osborne Clarke profits per partner surged by a fifth (20%) to reach £511,000 (US$1,008,811). Fee income at the 111-partner firm rose 12% from the previous to hit £82.8m (US$163,462,995). The figures mark the latest strong financial results released by national firms so far this year, LW reports. Last week Newcastle’s Dickinson Dees announced a 14% rise in partner profits to hit £366,000 (US$722,553), while gross revenue rose 17% to reach £56m (US$110,546,136).

AmLaw 200 Now Available

The American Lawyer’s June issue has the charts and stories about the full Am Law 200, and ALM Research has all the data from all the charts in one handy searchable spreadsheet— gross revenue, revenue per lawyer, profits per partner, NOI, profitability index, value per lawyer, contact info & more. It’s available free to subscribers and for a fee for non-subscribers. If you order now, you can get a 20% discount off the usual $475 price. To order, click here and use this discount code: AM2007. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact ALM Research at (888)770-5647 or by email, almresearch@alm.com.

Firm Financials: UK Firms’ Revenue Up

According to a new report by LegalWeek.com, London biglaw firm Norton Rose has posted its financials for FY 2006-2007, which show that gross revenue was up by 11% over the previous year (to £210m, or US$414.7 million), and average profits per equity partner were up 15% (to £512,000, or just over $1 million). Most British firms are on a fiscal year that ends March 30th, or with the first quarter.

As LW notes, the results come with a number of London firms enjoying record years -- Clifford Chance and Nabarro were both on course to see profits improve by around 20%. SJ Berwin and Ashurst are set to see total billings increase by more than 20%. Berwin Leighton Paisner saw gross revenue climb by 16%. Lovells estimates that total fee income will increase by about 7%, with PEP improving by around 2%. Herbert Smith, on the other hand, is expecting profits to dip slightly from last year’s figure of £839,000, although turnover is set to increase by 12%-13% to around £333m.

Am Law 100: Regional Focus

The Am Law 100 presents the firms with the highest revenue in the U.S. Many of ALM Media’s daily and weekly newspapers around the U.S. publish more localized, excerpted, versions of the “100” (and the larger list, The Am Law 200, which will be published June 1st) in order to focus their reporting on the firms headquartered in their neck of the woods. The DC 20 is one such list, published by Legal Times in Washington, DC. Wiley Rein, which made an astonishing leap to the top of The Am Law 100 Profits Per Partner chart this year, also heads the DC 20 chart by revenue.
Philadelphia-based Legal Intelligencer had already published an analysis of local firms which we referenced in an earlier blog post (