What Firms Can Learn From the Great Recession as They Confront the Next Crisis

As the legal industry reeled from the Great Recession, it was the Am Law 100 that bore the brunt of the 2008 financial crisis, but the Second Hundred's financial indices also declined. More than a decade later, law firms have recovered from the Great Recession, and the Second Hundred have overcome a few years of economic instability to reach new heights.

What data are you using to stand out in a crowded market? Get the interactive Am Law 200 Data exclusively with Legal Compass.

In 2008, the cutoff to make the Second Hundred was $99 million in gross revenue, roughly in line with the cutoff in 2019—$101 million. At the top of the list, though, firm No. 101 (Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz) brought home $378.9 million in 2019, nearly 38% higher than 101st-ranked Bracewell & Giuliani's $275.5 million in 2008. As a group, the Second Hundred have grown revenue 19% since 2008, despite the often-challenging economic climate.

But as the Second Hundred's financial health has trended upward since the last recession, the gains have not always been equal. Since 2008, some firms have outperformed their former peers, moving up into the Am Law 100. Others have cemented their place as reliable Second Hundred stalwarts. And along the way, law firm mergers, dissolutions and declines have dropped some to the bottom of the current rankings, or led them to disappear entirely.

The stories of the firms that occupied the Second Hundred in 2008 show that there are many paths to financial success, as well as to failure. And they hold lessons for this year's Second Hundred, which are facing a new economic crisis that could have even more disparate effects.