The country's largest labor and employment firms enjoyed strong growth in 2018, thanks to high demand that has been spurred by litigation, new laws and regulations, multinational clients and the #MeToo era.

But each of the four top-grossing U.S. firms—Littler Mendelson; Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Jackson Lewis; and Fisher & Phillips—has relied on its own model for growth, ranging from differences in partnership structure and international strategy to the firms' specific practice priorities and investments in technology.

Revenue and Head Count Gains

With more than 1,000 lawyers, Littler is the largest of the four, followed by Ogletree, Jackson Lewis and Fisher Phillips.

Thomas Bender

Tom Bender, the co-president of Littler with Jeremy Roth, said it was an “incredibly strong” year for the firm. “Financially it was very, very good. That may be even a bit of an understatement.”

What's more, Bender said, the firm made “major strides” in global expansion, tech and innovation, and diversity and inclusion.

At Littler, revenue grew an estimated 8.6 percent to $584.2 million, pushing up revenue per lawyer 6 percent to $547,000. (The firm discloses only head count data; revenue and profit figures are derived by ALM.)

Littler's overall lawyer head count increased 2.4 percent to 1,068 lawyers for its U.S. offices. Globally the firm has more than 1,500 lawyers, but Littler Global is structured as a Swiss verein, so the U.S. branch is a separate financial entity.

Matt Keen

Ogletree's managing shareholder, Matt Keen, also said his firm saw “strong growth” across practices, adding that immigration, class actions, workplace safety, ERISA and traditional labor matters were busy areas last year.

Ogletree's revenue increased 8.6 percent to $509.8 million, resulting in a 5.4 percent RPL increase to $602,000. Total lawyer head count increased 3 percent to 847 lawyers.

At Jackson Lewis, co-chair Kevin Lauri said social forces and state legislatures “have driven tremendous demand for our services.”