The Global 100: The World's Top Law Firms Ranked By Revenue, Profit, And Headcount

Which law firms landed in the top 10 according to these different metrics?

Here are the top 10 firms of the 2015 Global 100 when ranked by profits per equity partner:

1. Wachtell Lipton: $5,500,000
2. Quinn Emanuel: $4,925,000
3. Paul Weiss: $3,845,000
4. Sullivan & Cromwell: $3,680,000
5. Kirkland & Ellis: $3,510,000
6. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: $3,485,000
7. Cravath Swaine & Moore: $3,365,000
8. Davis Polk & Wardwell: $3,295,000
9. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton: $3,230,000
10. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher: $3,045,000

This list is quite similar to last year’s, when Wachtell and Quinn were #1 and #2, with PPP figures of $4.755 and $4.485 million, respectively. Last year’s third-place firm, Cahill Gordon, didn’t make the top 10 this year because its total revenue wasn’t big enough to make the Global 100 (recall that Cahill is a relatively small firm by Biglaw standards). Otherwise there wasn’t much movement — some minor trading of spots among top 10 firms, and Davis and Cleary returning to the top 10 from just outside it. This resulted in an all-American top 10, with Slaughter & May, which some think of as the U.K.’s answer to Wachtell Lipton, dropping off the list.

Finally, here are the top 10 of the 2015 Global 100 when ranked by headcount (i.e., number of warm lawyer bodies):

1. Baker & McKenzie: 4,363 (verein)
2. Yingke: 4,153
3. DLA Piper: 3,702 (verein)
4. Dacheng: 3,700 (legacy Dacheng, not Dacheng Dentons)
5. Norton Rose Fulbright: 3,461 (verein)
6. CMS Legal Services: 2,522 (EEIG — “European Economic Interest Group”)
7. Jones Day: 2,510
8. Clifford Chance: 2,495
9. Hogan Lovells: 2,360 (verein)
10. Dentons: 2,285 (verein)

Baker & McKenzie held on to the top spot, but it won’t stay there for long. The figures above do not reflect the gigantic tie-up between the #4 firm, Dacheng, and the #10 firm, Dentons. Integration of the two firms was not yet complete in September when the American Lawyer went to press. But next year, the combined Dacheng Dentons should boast around 6,000 lawyers (assuming no major cuts or growth). Unless some other mega-merger takes place, Dacheng Dentons should be the world’s biggest firm by headcount, by a long shot, in the 2016 rankings.

These are just a few highlights from the American Lawyer’s Global 100. You can check out additional commentary and complete charts via this portal page, and we welcome your insights and observations in the comments.

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Special Report: The 2015 Global 100 [American Lawyer]
2015 Global 100: Top-Grossing Law Firms in the World [American Lawyer]

Earlier: The Global 100 Rankings: Which Biglaw Firms Are The Richest In The World?
Bow Before The Global 100, The Top-Grossing Law Firms On The Planet

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