Ranking law firms is a difficult task. What does one value in a firm? Prestige, employee satisfaction, blockbuster cases and deals, consistent clients, PPP… there’s an argument for measuring law firms along each of these vectors and developing complex equations to create the definitive value of each firm.
Or there’s counting the number of lawyers and calling it a day.
The National Law Journal takes the latter approach, aggressively grasping for the ranking clickbait with the NLJ 500, which is just a list of law firms based on size. NLJ is apparently the insecure guy in your locker room of legal publications. Seriously, the Am Law 200 is not extreme enough for these people? Could you even name 500 law firms? I’m old enough to remember the NLJ 250… which was already a ridiculous list.
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But, if you’re interested in straight-up counting, here are the top ten largest firms in America:
1. Baker McKenzie
2. DLA Piper
3. Norton Rose Fulbright
4. Hogan Lovells
5. Jones Day
6. Latham & Watkins
7. White & Case
8. Greenburg Traurig
9. Morgan Lewis
10. Sidley Austin
Check out NLJ if you’re really hankering to know what firms are 11-500 in headcount. Congrats to Baker McKenzie, which has as many equity partners (709) as Proskauer has total attorneys.
The NLJ 500: Our Rankings of The Nation’s Largest Law Firms
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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.