For more than 30 years, we've surveyed Washington-area law firms about their lawyer headcount. In the 2011 Legal Times 150, firms were asked to provide data for each office in the Washington metropolitan area — including the District of Columbia; Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland; and Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church in Virginia.
The headcount numbers are as of April 1, 2011. The numbers do not include contract attorneys, patent agents or summer associates. And law firms were asked to tally full-time equivalents. Ties are ordered based on number of partners.
The decline continues
The headcount among Washington firms continued to decline, but not as sharply as it did last year — the biggest recorded drop in 25 years. According to the Legal Times 150, our annual ranking of the Washington area's largest law offices, the number of attorneys employed at Washington firms decreased by 343 — a little more than 2.2 percent of the total market of 14,945 attorneys.
CHARTS
Ranked by headcount, the Washington-area's largest law firms.
The offices with the largest percentage of gains and losses in headcount.
