Biglaw

The 500 Largest Law Firms In America (2024)

Because size matters in the legal profession. Which is America's largest law firm?

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top 500There are many different and exciting ways to rank law firms. How prestigious are they? How much money are they making? How much do partners earn? How much are associates earning in cash compensation? How big are they?

Yes, size matters, and because the legal profession is obsessed with every single measurable and quantifiable factor law firms have to offer, there’s obviously a ranking for that.

So, which Biglaw firm is the biggest of them all?

Today, the National Law Journal unleashed its annual NLJ 500, a ranking of largest law firms in the United States covering the previous calendar year. If you’ve ever wondered about precise law firm headcounts, this is the ranking for you.

These are the 10 largest law firms in America, according to NLJ, along with some insights on the list:

  1. DLA Piper
  2. Baker McKenzie
  3. Kirkland & Ellis
  4. Latham & Watkins
  5. Norton Rose Fulbright
  6. Hogan Lovells
  7. White & Case
  8. Greenberg Traurig
  9. Jones Day
  10. Sidley Austin

In 2023, the majority of the largest law firms saw modest headcount growth, though there were a few exceptions, leading to several ranking adjustments at the top of the NLJ 500. However, not all headcount swings translated on the leaderboard.

DLA Piper (No. 1) overtook Baker McKenzie (No. 2) for the top spot in the latest NLJ 500. DLA Piper increased its headcount by 7.2%, from 4,255 to 4,561. Meanwhile, Baker McKenzie’s headcount shrunk by 4.6%, from 4,779 to 4,558. …

Headcount growth returning to moderate pre-pandemic levels could be the new post-pandemic norm. Some firm leaders and legal observers say they expect to fill vacancies in their benches and add lawyers where needed, though aren’t aggressively adding to their headcount as transactional work makes a slow rebound.

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Click here to see the NLJ’s full list of the 500 largest law firms in the country.

Congratulations go out to DLA Piper for employing more lawyers than any other firm. This firm wins the award for putting the “big” in Biglaw — and managed to elbow Baker McKenzie out of a repeat top title by a mere three attorneys. Give a round of applause to the rest of the Top 10 for keeping their Biglaw firms bigger than all the rest. As for every other firm, keep growing and someday you’ll be a Biglaw behemoth too.

The 2024 NLJ 500: Ranked by Head Count [National Law Journal]
The 2024 NLJ 500: Headcount Growth Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels [National Law Journal]

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 X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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