10 Most Successful Law Firms in America

If you are at that point in your law career where you want to apply to a reputed law firm and swim with the big fish, then this list of the 10 most successful law firms in America will give you some useful pointers about the most well-known ones.

Everyone is well-aware of the fact that procuring a law degree is a grueling task. Only after going through an intense period of law school and a spell of extensive reading do you get this highly venerated piece of paper. Once that’s over with, passing the bar exam is another mountain to cross. When that’s completed, you can finally focus on your career, and that’s where law firms come in. The most esteemed law firms only induct graduates whom they think worthy of being a part of their “empire”. Although not everyone ends up being counted as one of the 10 most successful and influential lawyers, people who are lucky enough to practice law in one of these huge firms are treated with much regard in the society.

So what exactly would be a reasonable measure of the success of a law firm? We decided to refer to the 2017 Vault Law 100, a list of the 100 most prestigious firms in the United States that employs an arduous methodology to produce the final product. We selected the top 20 firms from the aforementioned list and then ranked them using the figures of profits per partner, which were taken from The American Lawyer, the online version of the award-winning magazine of the same name. Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s make our way through the 10 most successful law firms in America.

10. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates

Profits per partner: $3,125,000

This Manhattan-based law firm, often known as just Skadden, was first introduced to the world in 1948 by three young lawyers namely Marshall Skadden, John Slate and Les Arps. Skadden did not take long to establish itself in the world of law. In the late 60s and early 70s, the firm earned a name for itself as an expert of hostile takeovers and tender offers, and subsequently an expert of corporate law in general.

Skadden then focused on its expansion, setting up an office in Boston in 1973. Today, it has a total of 22 offices scattered around the world, in major cities of various countries like France, China, and Japan.

The gross revenue of Skadden amounts to a whopping $2.4 billion. Couple that with its humongous size and it can comfortably be regarded as one of the most successful law firms.

9. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Profits per partner: $3,185,000

When in 1890, John Bicknell partnered with Walter Trask to lay the foundation stone of the firm that now calls itself Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the duo probably did not anticipate the mammoth size that these humble beginnings of a firm would evolve into in the years to come. This law firm ranks 9th on our list of most successful law firms in America. It has an astonishing 1,200 lawyers (give or take a few) under its employment, dispersed over 19 offices around the globe.

The increase in size may be due to the merger that took place in 1903 between the original firm that housed James Gibson and another practice that housed the other two partners who have given the modern firm its name. The quality of service provided by the firm, however, has never wavered.

8. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Profits per partner: $3,305,000

Davis Polk is one of the older firms in the country as its beginnings can be traced back to 1849. Although the number of offices that this firm operates is less than the others on our list of most successful law firms in America, Davis Polk is a law firm that is capable of boasting about its wide scope. With it offering several practices, it is not only diverse in business but also diverse in its human resource. It has not only been ranked well among diversity scorecards published by The American Lawyer, but has also received awards from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum. Therefore, it’s safe to say that its 895 employees, who are working in 10 offices, are satisfied when it comes to being treated equally, regardless of color or gender.

7. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Profits per partner: $3,470,000

Simpson Thacher is based in New York and believes that success for itself and its clients can be achieved by asking them this simple question: “How can we help you?”

Simson Thacher was founded by three Columbia Law School graduates in the year 1884 but the 1950s and 60s are the years now considered to be the period when this firm became the modern firm that we know today. The firm also considers itself to be one of the more conscious firms when it comes to corporate responsibility, encouraging its attorneys to advise non-profit and similar entities. Furthermore, it has implemented environmentally friendly policies, promoting recycling and limiting energy utilization as much as possible.

6. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Profits per partner: $3,555,000

Although the gross revenue of Cravath is around $350 million away from touching a billion, it is by no means an undeserving candidate for the sixth spot on our list of the 10 most successful law firms in America. Cravath firmly believes in hiring the most talented individuals it can find, nurturing them and helping them grow within the firm. As per its philosophy, Cravath is not exclusively focused on global expansion. It relies more on the quality of training of its employees, rather than its size, to provide an excellent service to its clients. This is the reason that employees at each rung of the ladder are rotated within various practices as often as possible in order to mold them into experienced all-rounders.

5. Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Profits per partner: $3,605,000

With a huge gross revenue of 2.3 billion dollars and an extremely impressive head count of 1,619, Kirkland & Ellis is absolutely immense as far as its size is concerned. It operates mainly in four practice areas: corporate and tax, litigation, intellectual property, and restructuring. Needless to say, it excels in all of them. Its offices around the globe have played a vital role in expanding the business and achieving the tremendous revenue that it enjoys today.

Even with a huge workforce, Kirkland & Ellis does not compromise on diversity and has been included in several lists which proclaim the firm’s diverse and friendly nature.

4. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Profits per partner: $3,870,000

Up next on our list of most successful law firms in America is Sullivan & Cromwell or S&C which as it is often dubbed has not changed its title to include other names ever since its founders Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson Cromwell started it in the year 1879. At the beginning, S&C quickly gained a lot of influence in the finance sector, representing bankers to finance improvements in America’s infrastructure. It has retained these relationships with major financial organizations to this day and there’s no doubt that they played a pivotal role in giving S&C the esteem it enjoys today.

With a head count of 792 and each lawyer bringing in over 1.6 million dollars on average, S&C seems to have carved itself a permanent place in various lists of top firms in the country.

3. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Profits per partner: $4,085,000

Paul, Weiss treats law as not only a profession but as a science and art; the company states in its principles its struggle to achieve utmost excellence in its work, without ignoring the responsibilities it owes to the country. The firm takes pride in knowing that the people who have been or are associated with it, as partners or lawyers, include the likes of Theodore Sorensen (adviser to John F. Kennedy), Arthur Goldberg (former associate justice of the Supreme Court) and Adlai E Stevenson (former governor of Illinois). Paul, Weiss also considers itself to be the first major NYC based firm to include Jews as well as African-Americans into its ranks, thus proving its concern for diversity in the firm.

2. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Profits per partner: $4,420,000

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan ranks second on our list of most successful law firms in America. It is another firm which began in New York and expanded to a total of 20 offices as of now. It asserts its most important value quite clearly on all its publications: to win. The firm has an astounding victory rate of 88% of trials and arbitrations that it has taken part in. Most of the firm’s clients describe it as their solution for the most complex legal predicaments facing them.

With more than 650 attorneys working within its realm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and its partners have been branded as “Litigation Trailblazers” by the National Law Journal and a “Litigation Powerhouse” by Law 360. These two awards, however, are not the extent of the firm’s achievements. It has earned numerous titles, all of which are impossible to enumerate and can be seen here.

1. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Profits per partner: $6,600,000

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz began in 1965, making it quite a recent firm compared to the rest. However, its age certainly hasn’t restricted its success. The firm has made a massive name for itself, as is apparent from the huge difference between the profits earned by this firm’s partners and profits earned by others on our list of 10 most successful law firms in America. Specializing in mergers, acquisitions, takeover defense and other corporate matters, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a focus oriented firm, meaning that it limits the fields that it delves into in order to retain focus on the fields it specializes in. The firm also mentors and develops its lawyers by maintaining a low associates to partners ratio, keeping its level of excellence at an absolute high.