The Global 100: The Richest Law Firms In The World (2016)
Which law firm had the highest revenue on the planet?
Hip hip hooray, we’ve got new Biglaw rankings so it’s a glorious day! The American Lawyer just released its latest edition of the Global 100, a ranking of the world’s 100 largest law firms by total revenue. How did these firms do in the year that was? As we learned from the most recent Am Law 100 rankings, a slow and steady approach to growth seems to be winning the race, even for the planet’s top-grossing law firms.
Here is some analysis from the American Lawyer:
The world’s 100 top-grossing law firms continued a postrecession trend of slow and steady growth in 2015, with revenue hitting a new high after a sixth consecutive year of top- and bottom-line gains, according to our latest survey.
Revenue for The Global 100 increased 3.1 percent in 2015, to $96.6 billion, a record for this group. And average profits per equity partner rose 4.9 percent, to nearly $1.6 million. At current growth rates, total Global 100 revenue in next year’s survey will almost reach $100 billion.
Despite these gains, average revenue per lawyer (RPL)—a key measure of a law firm’s health and efficiency—dipped 2.1 percent, to $812,701. It is only the third decline in group RPL this millennium, after the financial crisis caused drops in 2008 and 2009, and the first time that Global 100 RPL has fallen without the United States economy being in recession.
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What could have caused this decline in revenue per lawyer? We’ll refer to this as the Dentons dip. As noted by Am Law, thanks to the firm’s mega-merger with Dacheng — a firm 4,000 lawyers strong — RPL for the entire Global 100 sank like a stone. But for the Dentons Dacheng merger, the Global 100’s RPL would have increased by 0.2 percent, to $841,346. However, while 23 firms saw an increase in RPL of over 5 percent, more than a third experienced declines in 2015 — the most since the Great Recession. This could be a trend worth watching over the course of this year.
Here are the top 10 firms of the 2016 Global 100 (i.e., the top 10 firms ranked by 2015 revenue). Take a careful look, because this time around, there’s a tie:
1. Latham & Watkins: $2,650,000,000
2. Baker & McKenzie: $2,620,000,000 (verein)
3. DLA Piper: $2,543,000,000 (verein)
4. Skadden Arps: $2,410,000,000
5. Kirkland & Ellis: $2,305,000,000
6. Dentons: $2,120,000,000 (verein)
7. Clifford Chance: $2,118,500,000
8. Freshfields: $2,028,000,000
9. Allen & Overy: $2,002,500,000
9. Linklaters: $2,002,500,000
There was a bit of disruption in this year’s rankings due to the rise of Dentons. Last year, Dentons was ranked #19, and its cash ascension not only inspired a rousing game of musical chairs among the top 10, but also forced Jones Day out of the top 10 entirely.
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As for Latham, the firm was able to hang on to the number one spot due to the fact that it generated the most revenue ever recorded for a single law firm in a fiscal year, with a 1.5 percent increase over last year’s numbers. After falling from #1 to #3 last year, Baker & McKenzie climbed back over DLA Piper with a revenue increase of 7.8 percent.
What about the closely watched profits per partner rankings? Flip to the next page to see which firms produce the world’s richest partners, plus the firms with the most lawyers.
Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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