2017 Am Law 100 Ranking Released

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Summary: The American Lawyer released its annual Am Law 100 ranking.

Yesterday, The American Lawyer released its annual Am Law 100 ranking, which lists the financial performance of the nation’s largest law firms. The firms on the Am Law 100 list increased revenue by 2.7 percent from 2016, but the publication said that there could be trouble in the future.

  

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“Firms within the Am Law 100 posted strong top- and bottom-line gains in 2016, but softness in revenue per lawyer and growing volatility from year-to-year portend some uncertainty ahead. In addition, the revenue and profit disparities between firms in the top and bottom half of the Am Law 100 continue to widen, forcing the firms ranked toward the bottom to contemplate new business strategies in order to maintain profitability,” the company press release stated.

The American Lawyer’s findings showed a divide between the top half of the list and the bottom. The top 50 firms saw an increase in profits per equity partner while the bottom 50 saw a drop.

“As clients continue to give more legal work to in-house legal teams and other legal service providers, and the gap in revenue at different ends of the Am Law 100 deepens, those in the second half of the ranking find themselves at a crossroads,” said Gina Passarella, Executive Editor of The American Lawyer. “If they want to grow revenue and remain profitable in today’s highly volatile and uncertain industry, they may have to change course. That could mean focusing on the core practice areas that differentiate them, and altering their staffing and compensation models so their firms can efficiently operate at optimal capacity.”

This year’s number one Am Law 100 firm was Latham & Watkins which brought in $2.823 billion in revenue in 2016. Next was Kirkland & Ellis with $2.651 billion; Baker McKenzie with $2.620 billion; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $2.495 billion; and DLA Piper with $2.470 billion.

Jones Day was listed in sixth place with $1.977 billion in revenue from 2016, followed by Sidley Austin, Hogan Lovells, Morgan Lewis, and Norton Rose.

While the top ten listed were repeats from last year, two from 2016, Dorsey & Whitney and Hughes Hubbard & Reed were removed. Kaye Scholer also fell from the top 100 but that was because it merged with Arnold & Porter.

“On the whole, the Am Law 100 grew gross revenue 4.3 percent, profits per equity partner 3 percent and revenue per lawyer 1.5 percent. But the figures look much different when looking at the Am Law 1-50 versus the 51-100. While the Am Law 100’s top 50 firms grew their total profits per partner by 6.1 percent, the bottom 50 saw theirs decrease by 1.7 percent. In addition, the top 50 firms in the Am Law 100 experienced a 3.6 percent increase in revenue per lawyer, while the bottom 50 firms saw a decline of 1.3 percent,” the company’s press release stated.

Here is the full list of 2017 Am Law 100 Law Firms ranked by revenue:

Chart source: www.americanlawyer.com

• Related: 2016 Am Law 
• Related: The Downsize of BigLaw Associate Salary Raises 

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