In 1982, Latham & Watkins was a precocious West Coast firm with 126 attorneys, outsize revenues, and four offices, only one of which-a 12-lawyer Washington, D.C., outpost-was outside California.

Today, Latham is among the world’s wealthiest firms, with gross revenue of $2.15 billion in 2011, nearly 2,000 lawyers, and 31 offices around the world.