How Do The AmLaw 100 Rankings Stack Up in 2024?
Ben Thomson, Big Law contributing editor
Now that the dust is settling on the latest AmLaw 100 rankings for 2024, we can look at the question of big law partner profits and the salaries that are coming home for these people.
And the AmLaw rankings show big lifts for the profits per equity partner ranking and fifty-four firms posting gross revenue of $1 billion or more in 2023, which four more than in 2022.
The AmLaw 100 results for 2024 keep the big name big law players in generally the same ranking as previously, with Kirkland Ellis topping the gross revenues table at $7.2 billion and for those interested in the big law pay scale Wachtell Lipton taking out the top revenues per lawyer at over $4 million.
The full list of revenues per lawyer is available here. But the real interest for many remains the profits per partner rankings, as we have written about regularly, which provides equity partner ranking being headed by Wachtell Lipton at $8.5 million taking the top position from Kirkland Ellis, who come in at the equity partner rankings at a shade under $8 million per partner.
Overall, the law business recovered from a challenging time in 2022, showing improvements across nearly all key financial and operational indicators.
There were a few changes in the top revenue earners, with the full list available here.
At a high level, gross revenue increased by 6.8 percent to a new collective record of $139.7 billion in 2023. For context, the increase was just 2.7 percent in 2022, where most of the performance indicators were negative, one of the few metrics to show positive growth that year.
In contrast, 2023 marked a turnaround for Am Law 100 firms.
According to American Lawyer, these firms experienced increases in several areas: revenue per lawyer (RPL) rose by 4.9 percent to $1.21 million; profits per equity partner (PEP) climbed 9.3 percent to $2.80 million; compensation-all partners (CAP) went up 6.2 percent to $1.75 million; and profits per lawyer increased by 6.2 percent to $517,821.
Gross Revenues Top Firms
| Rank | Rank Change | Firm | Revenue | Rev Change | ||
| 1 | (no change) | Kirkland Ellis | $7,208,000,000 | 10.65% | ||
| 2 | (no change) | Latham Watkins | $5,688,226,000 | 6.90% | ||
| 3 | (no change) | DLA Piper (verein) | $3,829,531,000 | 3.92% | ||
| 4 | (no change) | Baker McKenzie (verein) | $3,286,791,000 | -0.41% | ||
| 5 | (no change) | Skadden | $3,270,091,000 | 8.25% | ||
| 6 | (no change) | Sidley Austin | $3,100,458,000 | 6.08% | ||
| 7 | (up 2) | Gibson Dunn | $3,074,016,000 | 12.33% | ||
| 8 | (up 2) | Ropes & Gray | $2,992,831,000 | 10.10% | ||
| 9 | (down 2) | White & Case | $2,949,400,000 | 4.29% | ||
| 10 | (down 2) | Morgan Lewis | $2,898,514,000 | 5.58% |
Revenue Per Lawyer
| Rank | Firm | RPL | % Change | |||
| 1 | Wachtell Lipton | $4,272,000 | 20.58% | |||
| 2 | Susman Godfrey | $3,595,000 | 82.58% | |||
| 3 | Sullivan & Cromwell | $2,219,000 | 3.69% | |||
| 4 | Cravath | $2,200,000 | 11.85% | |||
| 5 | Kirkland Ellis | $2,051,000 | 7.49% |
Profits Per Equity Partner
| Rank | Firm | PEP | % Change | |||
| 1 | Wachtell Lipton | $8,507,000 | 16.63% | |||
| 2 | Kirkland Ellis | $7,955,000 | 5.84% | |||
| 3 | Quinn Emanuel | $7,270,000 | 39.03% | |||
| 4 | Susman Godfrey | $6,989,000 | 103.46% | |||
| 5 | Paul Weiss | $6,574,000 | 14.83% |
The report showed equity partner ranks stayed the same size or even contracted, as nonequity partners increased their numbers, with the trend towards a growth in their numbers set to continue in the years ahead.
The 2024 report demonstrates the law business’s resilience with their strong performance in sometimes challenging and certainly competitive environment.
