Which Am Law 200 Firms Promoted The Most Attorneys?

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Michael Allen is the CEO of Lateral Link. He is based in the Los Angeles office and focuses exclusively on Partner and General Counsel placements for top firms and companies. Prior to founding Lateral Link in 2006, he worked as an attorney at both Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Irell & Manella LLP. Michael graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, San Diego before earning his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

Attorneys typically appreciate receiving promotions in title and pay.

For starters, an attorney who receives the “partner” title can more credibly pitch for business from her rolodex (and the firm is probably more likely to offer her credit, which means more compensation).  Next, usually promotions come with a bump in compensation.  Lastly, we all like recognition.  Most employees prefer the positive recognition perceived from the promotion over the increase in compensation received.

On the other hand, we sometimes hear from our candidates that they are underwhelmed with their promotion.  Maybe they don’t receive the compensation they think they deserve or it comes along with a nice “capital contribution” requirement.  Good news, you are now partner; bad news, you owe us $330,000 (but we will introduce you to our bankers to pay upfront).

All in all, most promotions are positive.

So, which Am Law 200 law firms promoted the most attorneys over the prior 12-month period?

Courtesy of Leopard Solutions, here are the Top 30 Am Law 200 Firms in terms of volume (not weighted by size) that promoted their associates/counsel to “C”ounsel or “P”artner:

Firm	PROMO-C	PROMO-P	Total	Leverage
Kirkland & Ellis LLP	0	80	80	1:1.43
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP	36	30	66	1:1.53
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP	44	14	58	1:2.05
Greenberg Traurig LLP	14	38	52	1:0.94
WilmerHale	41	7	48	1:2.60
Perkins Coie	29	18	47	1:1.20
Reed Smith LLP	23	18	41	1:1.54
Latham & Watkins LLP	8	32	40	1:2.69
O Melveny & Myers LLP	34	6	40	1:2.53
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP	0	39	39	1:0.84
Jones Day	6	32	38	1:1.81
Littler Mendelson PC	9	28	37	1:1.20
Ropes & Gray LLP	26	9	35	1:3.62
Holland & Knight LLP	5	29	34	1:0.78
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP	5	29	34	1:1.60
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP	23	11	34	1:4.21
Akerman LLP	3	30	33	1:0.68
Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker	12	18	30	1:1.79
Cooley LLP	10	18	28	1:2.17
Crowell & Moring LLP	21	7	28	1:1.69
McGuireWoods LLP	8	20	28	1:1.43
King & Spalding LLP	11	16	27	1:1.47
Venable LLP	8	18	26	1:1.30
Dentons	9	16	25	1:1.13
Mayer Brown LLP	9	16	25	1:1.67
Polsinelli PC	2	23	25	1:0.66
Seyfarth Shaw LLP	14	11	25	1:1.40
White & Case	7	18	25	1:2.30
Alston & Bird LLP	4	20	24	1:1.37
Locke Lord LLP	12	12	24	1:1.11

Like with all firms, promotions mean different things.  For example, K&E has NSP (“non-share partners”) and equity partners.  Out of the 80 “Partners” promoted, the majority of them graduated in the class of 2011.  The same can be said with O’Melveny, as the majority of their “Counsel” promotions also graduated in the class of 2011.  That said, each firm has a unique partner track and promotions mean different things at different places.

If you’d like to learn more about promotion trends and what they mean at your firm (or other firms), please don’t hesitate to call my colleagues at Lateral Link to fill you in on the details.

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