There are many different and exciting ways to rank law firms. How prestigious are they? How much money are they making? How much take-home cash do partners earn? How big are they?
Yes, size matters, especially during these crazy COVID times. Amid furloughs and layoffs — acknowledged and stealth — firms could still be cutting associates while putting up big head count numbers.
The New York Law Journal recently unleashed its annual NYLJ 100, a ranking of largest law firms in New York covering the previous calendar year. As luck would have it, many Biglaw firms increased their New York City head counts by more than 10 percent in 2019, and now here we are, facing down austerity measures due to a pandemic. If you’ve ever wondered about head counts, this is the ranking for you.
The NYLJ 100 ranks the 100 largest firms by number of lawyers in the state of New York. All private law offices in the state are considered … irrespective of where the firm is headquartered or where it claims a home office. Non-U.S.-based law firms are considered equally with domestic U.S. firms; the sole criterion for inclusion in the NYLJ 100 is the size of a firm’s New York state presence.
The top 15 biggest firms (numbers show attorneys in New York) are not surprising. Let’s take a moment to gawk at Manhattan’s Biglaw behemoths:
1. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison: 832
2. Davis Polk & Wardwell: 700
3. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom: 656
4. Kirkland & Ellis: 646
5. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: 601
6. Weil, Gotshal & Manges: 563
7. Sullivan & Cromwell: 543
8. Cravath, Swaine & Moore: 496
8. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton: 496
9. Debevoise & Plimpton: 481
10. Latham & Watkins: 480
11. White & Case: 433
12. Sidley Austin: 429
13. Milbank: 425
14. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson: 381
15. Willkie Farr & Gallagher: 380
Congratulations to Paul Weiss for employing more lawyers in New York than any other firm. This firm wins the award for putting the “big” in Biglaw in the Big Apple.
Head to the New York Law Journal if you’re curious about the firms ranked 16-100.
NYLJ 100: The Largest Firms in New York by Number of Lawyers [New York Law Journal]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.