The Global 100: The Richest Law Firms In The World (2020)

Which firms are at the very top of the list this year?

Law.com recently published its latest edition of the Global 100, a ranking of the world’s 100 largest law firms by total revenue. (Even an important ranking like this — released on September 21 — was easy to miss amid the news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had passed away.) How did these firms do in the year that was? As we learned from the most recent Am Law 100 rankings, 2019 was a pretty good year for Biglaw firms, with some of the planet’s top-grossing firms setting financial records. What are we looking at in terms of the big picture?

Overall, the Global 100’s gross revenue grew by 4.7 percent, bringing the collective earnings of these firms up to $119.6 billion. Of course, this is nowhere near the heights reached in 2018, when gross revenue for the Global 100 increased by 8.1 percent, but when Biglaw is up by $5.4 billion, there’s not much room for complaints. The United States continues to dominate the list, and this time around, 50 firms had more than $1 billion in revenue — and the vast majority of those firms are based in the U.S.

Here are the top 10 firms of the 2020 Global 100 (i.e., the top 10 firms ranked by 2019 revenue). Each of these firms has their most lawyers in the U.S. — except Dentons:

1. Kirkland & Ellis: $4,154,600,000
2. Latham & Watkins: $3,767,623,000
3. DLA Piper: $3,112,130,000
4. Baker McKenzie: $2,920,000,000
5. Dentons: $2,899,600,000
6. Skadden Arps: $2,632,615,000
7. Sidley Austin: $2,337,803,000
8. Clifford Chance: $2,302,070,000
9. Morgan Lewis: $2,265,000,000
10. Hogan Lovells: $2,246,050,000

What about the closely watched profits per equity partner rankings? Among the Global 100, profits per equity partner came to about $1,723,068 in 2019 (a tiny 0.4 percent increase). These are the 10 firms that produce the world’s richest partners:

1. Wachtell Lipton: $6,330,000
2. Kirkland & Ellis: $5,195,000
3. Paul Weiss: $4,699,000
4. Sullivan & Cromwell: $4,653,000
5. Quinn Emanuel: $4,556,000
6. Davis Polk: $4,514,000
7. Simpson Thacher: $4,417,000
8. Cravath: $4,414,000
9. Weil Gotshal: $4,028,000
10. Skadden Arps: $3,919,000

Finally, here are the top 10 of the 2020 Global 100 when ranked by head count:

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1. Dentons: 10,977
2. Yingke: 8,862
3. Baker McKenzie: 4,809
4. Jingsh Law Firm: 4,183
5. DLA Piper: 3,894
6. CMS: 3,765
7. Norton Rose Fulbright: 3,266
8. King & Wood Mallesons: 3,258
9. Albright: 3,178
10. DeHeng Law Offices: 2,820

Expect things to look a lot different when the 2021 edition of the Global 100 comes out, as 2019 was the calm before the never-ending storm that is the coronavirus crisis. Revenue will likely be down, profits per equity partner will likely be down, and head count will almost certainly be down. Enjoy looking at these financials while you can.

For the Global 200, Last Year Was the Calm Before the Storm [Law.com International]
The 2020 Global 200: Ranked by Revenue [Law.com International]
The 2020 Global 100: Ranked by Profits Per Equity Partner [Law.com International]
The 2020 Global 200: Ranked by Head Count [Law.com International]


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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