Biglaw
had
a
helluva
2024.
By
nearly
every
trackable
metric,
the
numbers
were
up,
up,
up.
And
now
we’ve
finally
moved
from
anecdotal
stories
of
highs
and
lows
and
gotten
some
real
data
with
the
announcement
of
American
Lawyer’s 2024
Am
Law
100.
With
a
whopping
58
firms
notching
over
a
billion
dollars
in
gross
revenue,
the
financials
of
Biglaw
look
solid.
Patrick
Smith details the
industry-wide
trends:
By
the
numbers,
there
is
no
other
credible
way
to
describe
the
overall
performance
of
the
100
largest
law
firms
by
revenue:
They
crushed
it.The
collective
Am
Law
100
saw
13.3%
year-over-year
revenue
growth
in
2024,
generating
close
to
$160
billion
in
total.
Virtually
every
major
financial
metric
showed
growth,
including
net
income,
which
saw
a
collective
16%
rise
to
more
than
$69
billion
—
a
remarkable
annual
growth
rate
for
that
metric.The
results
were
impressive
firm
by
firm,
too.
Kirkland
&
Ellis
hit
$8.8
billion
in
revenue,
almost
jumping
straight
into
$9
billion
territory.
Latham
&
Watkins
landed
squarely
on
$7
billion.
DLA
Piper
crossed
$4
billion
in
revenue.
So,
enough
of
the
broad
strokes
—
how
did
specific
firms
stack
up?
Here’s
the
top
of
some
of
the
biggest
categories.
Gross
Revenue
Here’s
the
top
10
by
revenue…
which
looks
a
pretty
similar
to
last
year’s
top
10.
Full
100
list
available
here.
|
2025 Am Law 100 Rank (FY:2024) |
Rank Change |
Firm Name |
Gross Revenue |
Revenue Change |
| 1 | Same |
Kirkland & Ellis |
$ 8,801,740,000 |
22.11% |
| 2 | Same |
Latham & Watkins |
$ 7,000,000,000 |
23.06% |
| 3 | Same |
DLA Piper |
$ 4,239,832,000 |
10.71% |
| 4 | +1 |
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom |
$ 3,669,042,000 |
12.20% |
| 5 | +2 |
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher |
$ 3,557,623,000 |
15.73% |
| 6 | Same |
Sidley Austin |
$ 3,439,646,000 |
10.94% |
| 7 | +1 |
Ropes & Gray |
$ 3,416,636,000 |
14.16% |
| 8 | -4 |
Baker McKenzie |
$ 3,394,579,000 |
3.28% |
| 9 | Same |
White & Case |
$ 3,316,735,000 |
12.45% |
| 10 | Same |
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius |
$ 3,098,511,000 |
6.90% |
Revenue
Per
Lawyer
But,
of
course,
there
are
other
important
metrics
in
Biglaw.
Take,
for
example,
revenue
per
lawyer.
RPL
provides
a
relatively
accurate
picture
of
a
firm’s
overall
financial
well-being,
and
here
are
the
five
big
name
players
at
the
top
of
the
list.
Full
list
available
here.
|
Rank |
Firm |
RPL |
Change from 2023 |
| 1 |
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz |
$4,472,000 | 4.68% |
| 2 |
Susman Godfrey |
$2,389,000 | -33.55% |
| 3 |
Sullivan & Cromwell |
$2,333,000 | 5.14% |
| 4 |
Cravath, Swaine & Moore |
$2,256,000 | 15.40% |
| 5 |
Kirkland & Ellis |
$2,299,000 | 12.09% |
Profits
Per
Equity
Partner
The
dogfight
between
Kirkland
and
Wachtell
in
PPP
continues,
with
Kirkland
getting
the
top
spot
this
year.
The
full
Am
Law
100
profits
per
partner
chart
can
be
found
here.
| Rank | Firm | PPP |
Change from 2023 |
| 1 |
Kirkland & Ellis |
$9,253,000 | 16.23% |
| 2 |
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz |
$9,036,000 | 6.22% |
| 3 |
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan |
$8,643,000 | 18.89% |
| 4 |
Davis Polk & Wardwell |
$7,800,000 | 25.81% |
| 5 |
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett |
$7,664,000 | 19.14% |
We
will
undoubtedly
have
even
more
to
say
as
we
dig
into
these
numbers
and
reflect
on
why,
with
such
strong
financials,
so
many
in
Biglaw
have
been
willing
to
bend
to
a
bully.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email her with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter @Kathryn1 or
Mastodon @[email protected].