Debevoise & Plimpton has long been among New York's most prestigious law firms. It's also widely viewed as an excellent place to work.

In the past, Debevoise's prestige has arguably outpaced its profits. It's often ranked more highly on the Vault 100 than on the Am Law 100 (when ranked by profits per partner). In the most recent rankings, Debevoise was #13 on the Vault 100 and #20 on the Am Law 100 by PPP.

Perhaps that's about to change. From Legal Week (via Law.com):

Debevoise & Plimpton has unveiled stellar financial results for 2007, with the New York law firm seeing both partner profits and fees climb by more than 20 percent over the last 12 months.

Profits per equity partner (PEP) at Debevoise rose by 26.5 percent from $1.81 million last year to a new high of $2.29 million. Global revenue, meanwhile, was up by 23.4 percent from $575 million in 2006 to $709.54 million.

A source who passed along this news added: "Although not mentioned in the article, several large investigations are the driving force behind these numbers."

Of course, that's not surprising. Thanks in large part to former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, internal investigations have long been a mainstay of Debevoise's practice. They're long-running and lucrative, since no company in deep doo-doo wants to look like it's skimping on self-scrutiny. See, e.g., Siemens (aka Debevoise cash cow).

But how much cash will they get to keep? Discussion of a new tax proposal that will disproportionately affect partners at large law firms, after the jump.