The Am Law Second Hundred in 2018 enjoyed one of their best all-around financial performances in the past decade. But beyond the headline numbers, this year's report might dredge up a complicated mix of emotions for a broad group of Big Law firms, from jealousy and anxiety to relief.

Gross revenue rose 3.1 percent to $19.6 billion while revenue per lawyer increased 1.6 percent to just above $667,500. Profits per equity partner were on the rise as well, up 2.8 percent to nearly $760,000.

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In 2018, 11 firms grew revenue more than 10 percent and 38 firms saw revenue increase more than 5 percent. That compares favorably to the prior year, when eight firms had double-digit percentage growth in revenue and 22 bulked up by at least 5 percent.

More extreme downsides were limited, too. In 2018, 25 firms in the Second Hundred saw revenue declines, which is better than the year prior when 32 firms' top lines went in reverse. Only two firms in 2018 saw revenue decline by more than 10 percent.

There are six newcomers on this year's Second Hundred, including two firms that slipped from the Am Law 100: Husch Blackwell (No. 101) and Shook, Hardy & Bacon (103). ALM Intelligence gathered financial figures for two new firms this year: Butler Snow (155) and Spencer Fane (188). And two firms grew their way into the group: Hodgson Russ (195) and Nexsen Pruet (197).

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The six firms that left the Second Hundred between 2017 and 2018 include Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Andrews Kurth and Gardere Wynne Sewell, which left as the result of mergers with other firms. Dorsey & Whitney grew into the Am Law 100. Lane Powell and Herrick Feinstein slid out of the Second Hundred.

When the main metrics are going up, it's hard to complain. But there are reasons for pause upon closer analysis. Some of the unpleasant reactions the Second Hundred might experience would be justified; others can be soothed.

Start with jealousy, which may result from the impulse at Second Hundred firms to compare their financial results to their bigger brethren. The Am Law 100 continued to pull away last year. In fact, the nation's 100 largest firms by revenue grew their lead over the Second Hundred by a wider margin than in all but two years in the past decade.

The Am Law 100 grew revenue by 8 percent last year. Subtracting the Second Hundred's 3.1 percent growth rate creates a delta of 4.9 percent. Wider gaps existed only from 2016 to 2017 (when the delta was 5.6 percent) and from 2014 to 2015 (5.9 percent).

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That gap is in part a result of the fantastic returns at the very top of the Am Law 100, which couldn't be matched by even the best performers in the Second Hundred. Consider that Kirkland & Ellis, the nation's largest firm by revenue, added more revenue from 2017 to 2018, $592 million, than all of the Second Hundred combined, $588 million. But growth in the Top 100 was also more widespread. Three times more firms in the Second Hundred experienced revenue declines (25) than in the Top 100 (eight). Twenty-eight Second Hundred firms saw profits per equity partner drop from the previous year; only 11 of the Top 100 had declining profits.

Much has been made in recent years about stratification in the legal market, as the top end pulls away from the rest of the pack. And while the Am Law 100 has indeed outperformed the Second Hundred, that dynamic also existed last year within the Second Hundred itself. One way to see that is to split the group into halves that account for the same amount of revenue. Firms 101 through 135 and firms 136 through 200 both accounted for roughly 50 percent of the nearly $20 billion in Second Hundred revenue last year. The firms in the first group saw average revenue growth of 4.8 percent; average revenue per lawyer growth of 3.8 percent; and average PEP growth of 5.9 percent. The bottom half: 3 percent average revenue growth; 2.7 percent average RPL growth; and 2.1 percent average PEP growth.

If the firms in the Am Law 100 are bigger and doing better, does that mean that bigger is better within the Second Hundred itself? There is some evidence that the larger firms by head count within the Second Hundred performed better last year.