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|
Up and Out
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This year, two expansion-minded Philadelphia firms joined The Am Law 100, and two San Francisco firms fell off. |
|
Newcomers |
How they got there |
|
Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley |
Tenzer Greenblatt merger |
|
Duane, Morris & Heckscher |
Proceeds from Pennsylvania’s tobacco settlement |
|
Fenwick & West |
IPO work; Napster litigation |
|
Preston Gates & Ellis |
Microsoft work; increased tech focus |
|
Dropped out of sight |
Where they went |
|
Graham & James |
Acquired by Greenberg Traurig and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey |
|
Rogers & Wells |
Merged with Clifford Chance |
|
Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts |
Merged with Pillsbury Madison & Sutro |
|
Littler Mendelson |
Labor and litigation work was flat; dropped to The Am Law Second Hundred |
East Versus West
|
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Top Bay Area firms still bring in less money than their New York counterparts, but the gap is closing. |
|
Top Five New York Firms |
Gross Revenue 2000 |
% Increase over 1999
| |
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom |
$1,154,000,000 |
12.6%
| |
Shearman & Sterling |
$590,000,000 |
20.3%
| |
Davis Polk & Wardwell |
$525,000,000 |
14.1%
| |
Sullivan & Cromwell |
$516,500,000 |
9.0%
| |
Weil, Gotshal & Manges |
$505,500,000 |
15.0%
| |
Average: |
$658,200,000 |
14.2%
|
| |
|
Top Five Bay Area Firms |
Gross Revenue 2000 |
% Increase over 1999
| |
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison |
$476,000,000 |
51.7%
| |
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati |
$450,000,000 |
52.0%
| |
Morrison & Foerster |
$437,000,000 |
35.9%
| |
Cooley Godward |
$345,000,000 |
62.0%
| |
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe |
$320,000,000 |
21.2%
| |
Average: |
$405,600,000 |
44.6%
|
Trimming the Ranks
|
|
Several Am Law 100 firms reduced their number of equity partners in 2000, even though their gross revenues increased.
|
|
Firm |
Percent change in number of equity partners |
Number of equity partners in 2000 |
Percent change in gross revenue |
Gross revenue, fiscal year 2000
| |
Sidley & Austin |
-25.8% |
193 |
6.1% |
$473,000,000
| |
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius |
-20.7% |
230 |
20.0% |
$515,400,000
| |
Kilpatrick Stockton |
-12.1% |
138 |
17.7% |
$176,500,000
| |
Locke Liddell & Sapp |
-11.1% |
176 |
8.6% |
$175,000,000
| |
Arter & Hadden |
-10.2% |
123 |
6.3% |
$155,267,000
| |
Pepper Hamilton |
-10.0% |
99 |
15.5% |
$145,142,900
| |
Katten Muchin Zavis |
-9.4% |
96 |
6.7% |
$212,285,000
| |
Foley & Lardner |
-7.5% |
283 |
16.2% |
$363,000,000
| |
Perkins Coie |
-6.0% |
141 |
28.4% |
$215,754,500
| |
Hunton & Williams |
-5.7% |
230 |
14.3% |
$318,000,000
| |
Jenner & Block |
-5.6% |
168 |
0.2% |
$182,427,500
| |
McGuireWoods |
-4.8% |
138 |
12.3% |
$210,000,000
| |
Preston Gates & Ellis |
-4.2% |
133 |
22.7% |
$149,030,000
| |
Dewey Ballantine |
-4.2% |
113 |
10.6% |
$306,500,000
| |
Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe |
-4.2% |
138 |
33.1% |
$261,500,000
|
Profits Per Equity Partner
|
|
The average gain in PPP was just 3 percent last year.
|
| Biggest increases in profits per partner, 1999 to 2000 |
|
Kelley Drye & Warren |
46.2%
|
|
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius |
39.7% |
|
Buchanan Ingersoll |
37.7% |
|
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison |
36.8% |
|
Cooley Godward |
35.9% |
|
Howrey Simon Arnold & White |
33.7% |
|
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice |
31.7% |
|
McGuireWoods |
29.5% |
|
Shook, Hardy & Bacon |
28.9% |
|
Baker Botts |
28.6% |
| |
| Biggest decreases in profits per partner, 1999 to 2000 |
|
Brown & Wood |
-15.6% |
| Goodwin Procter |
-9.9% |
| Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi |
-8.7% |
| Coudert Brothers |
-8.3% |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher |
-7.8% |
| Fulbright & Jaworski |
-7.1% |
| Cahill Gordon & Reindel |
-5.9% |
| Jenner & Block |
-5.6% |
| O'Melveny & Myers |
-4.8% |
| Sullivan & Cromwell |
-4.1% |
Gross Revenue
|
|
Many, though not all, Am Law 100 firms had double-digit gains last year. Only four saw their revenues decline.
|
| Biggest increases in revenue, 1999 to 2000 |
|
Greenberg Traurig |
62.3% |
| Cooley Godward |
62.0% |
| Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley |
55.8% |
| Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati |
52.0% |
| Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison |
51.7% |
| Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo |
51.1% |
| Fenwick & West |
46.8% |
| Dechert |
44.9% |
| Covington & Burling |
43.5% |
| Howrey Simon Arnold & White |
41.0% |
| |
| Smallest increases in revenue, 1999 to 2000 |
| Coudert Brothers |
5.5% |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher |
4.6% |
| Goodwin Procter |
2.6% |
| Chadbourne & Parke |
2.1% |
| Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker |
2.1% |
| Jenner & Block |
0.2% |
| |
| Decreases in revenue, 1999 to 2000 |
| Baker & Hostetler |
-0.3% |
| Cahill Gordon & Reindel |
-1.2% |
| Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal |
-3.8% |
| Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi |
-8.4% |
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