Order the 2004 A-List electronic spreadsheet
If you can’t make The A-List, finishing in the top quarter is second-best. The following firms just missed the cut. We offer some brief (and unsolicited) advice on what they need to do to make the A-List grade. |
Rank |
Firm |
City |
Am Law 2003 Rank |
Total Score* |
RPL Score |
Pro Bono Score |
Associates Score |
Diversity Score |
How They Can Make the Grade |
21 |
Irell & Manella |
Los Angeles |
106 |
916 |
184 |
88 |
189 |
183 |
Spend some quality time on pro bono. |
22 |
Willkie Farr & Gallagher |
New York |
52 |
915 |
170 |
167 |
111 |
130 |
One less disgrunted associate. |
23 |
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson |
New York |
61 |
913 |
151 |
183 |
63 |
182 |
Five less disgrunted associates. |
24 |
Chadbourne & Parke |
New York |
77 |
902 |
170 |
132 |
126 |
172 |
Close again; more pro bono please. |
25 |
Shearman & Sterling |
New York |
9 |
899 |
176 |
142 |
72 |
191 |
Big gainer but needs better pro bono or associate results. |
26 |
Bingham McCutchen |
National |
26 |
896 |
146 |
149 |
140 |
166 |
Slipped off list: Jack up just one score. |
27 |
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy |
New York |
42 |
893 |
189 |
117 |
92 |
189 |
Pro bono lags at high-earning firm. |
28 |
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe |
San Francisco |
29 |
880 |
163 |
115 |
178 |
146 |
Much improved but pro bono still not up to par. |
29 |
Hogan & Hartson |
Washington, D.C. |
21 |
876 |
145 |
171 |
122 |
122 |
On cusp again: Treat associates better or improve diversity. |
30 |
Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky |
Washington, D.C. |
66 |
870 |
197 |
172 |
46 |
86 |
Find another contingency windfall and see Hogan (above). |
31 |
Weil, Gotshal & Manges |
New York |
8 |
866 |
182 |
117 |
91 |
177 |
Slipped off list after pro bono and associate scores sagged. |
32 |
O’Melveny & Myers |
Los Angeles |
13 |
861 |
172 |
135 |
63 |
184 |
Litigation champ needs pro bono increases. |
33 |
Cooley Godward |
Palo Alto |
68 |
852 |
139 |
163 |
76 |
172 |
Anxious associates feel unloved. |
34 |
Kirkland & Ellis |
Chicago |
10 |
844 |
186 |
115 |
85 |
157 |
Hurt by drop in associate score. |
35 |
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan |
New York |
83 |
838 |
156 |
154 |
83 |
135 |
One word: associates. |
36 |
Winston & Strawn |
National |
28 |
835 |
111 |
149 |
193 |
122 |
One word: revenues. |
37 |
Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn |
Washington, D.C. |
139 |
830 |
101 |
168 |
173 |
119 |
See Winston (above). |
38 |
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher |
Los Angeles |
14 |
829 |
187 |
103 |
163 |
86 |
Pro bono and diversity not at world-class levels. |
39 |
Goodwin Procter |
Boston |
69 |
828 |
132 |
162 |
159 |
81 |
Pick up revenue or diversity. |
40 |
Alston & Bird |
Atlanta |
50 |
813 |
103 |
164 |
198 |
81 |
Top score in Atlanta; needs revenue boost. |
41 |
Hale and Dorr |
Boston |
60 |
808 |
145 |
156 |
135 |
71 |
De-listed after across-the-board drop; Wilmer merger may lead to return. |
42 |
Pillsbury Winthrop |
San Francisco |
39 |
800 |
141 |
132 |
89 |
165 |
Other than diversity, all three categories could use a boost. |
43 |
Greenberg Traurig |
National |
20 |
799 |
128 |
110 |
172 |
151 |
Turbo-charge RPL and pro bono. |
43 |
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati |
Palo Alto |
46 |
799 |
156 |
121 |
47 |
198 |
Associates need TLC, lots of it. |
45 |
Dorsey & Whitney |
Minneapolis |
59 |
789 |
83 |
161 |
179 |
122 |
RPL in bottom half won’t make The A-list. |
46 |
Hunton & Williams |
Richmond |
35 |
787 |
101 |
182 |
93 |
128 |
First-tier pro bono hurt by second-tier rates. |
46 |
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood |
National |
5 |
787 |
151 |
112 |
119 |
142 |
Raise pro bono to top-tier New York level. |
48 |
Ropes & Gray |
Boston |
55 |
784 |
161 |
96 |
171 |
99 |
Raise pro bono to top-tier Boston level. |
49 |
Dewey Ballantine |
New York |
48 |
781 |
156 |
129 |
43 |
168 |
Stroock squared: poor associate score. |
49 |
Schulte Roth & Zabel |
New York |
76 |
781 |
182 |
105 |
54 |
153 |
Pro bono and associate scores trail top-flight revenues. |
*The total score was calculated by doubling the RPL and Pro Bono scores and adding those to the Associate Satisfaction and Diversity scores. |
( The American Lawyer, September 2004) |
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the chart, in no way influence the rankings in any of ALM’s surveys.