Biglaw

Stat Of The Week: Top U.S. Legal Markets By Headcount

Which Biglaw firm has the biggest office in each of these major legal markets?

stat imageWhich American cities are home to the most Biglaw attorneys? And which firms are the biggest in the various markets?

Here are (1) the top U.S. cities ranked by the number of attorneys working at NLJ 500 law firms and (2) the biggest Biglaw office in each legal market, via Katelyn Polantz of Am Law Daily:

1. New York – Paul, Weiss (781 lawyers)
2. Washington, D.C. – Covington & Burling (459 lawyers)
3. Chicago – Kirkland & Ellis (569 lawyers)
4. Los Angeles – Lewis Brisbois (299 lawyers)
5. Boston – Ropes & Gray (438 lawyers)
6. San Francisco – Morrison & Foerster (228 lawyers)
7. Atlanta – King & Spalding (350 lawyers)
8. Philadelphia – Morgan Lewis (268 lawyers)
9. Houston – Vinson & Elkins (243 lawyers)
10. Dallas – Haynes and Boone (187 lawyers)
11. Miami – Greenberg Traurig (174 lawyers)

Interesting. I tried to guess the biggest firm in each city before looking, and I got two wrong: I guessed Skadden was #1 in New York (it’s #2), and I guessed Gibson Dunn was #1 in L.A. (it’s also #2).

For the underlying data and complete rankings of firms in each city, surf over to Am Law Daily.

Where the Lawyers Are: Top US Legal Markets by Head Count [Am Law Daily]


David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].