Even before the coronavirus pandemic unleashed market turmoil, many of New York's elite law firms were struggling to match their performance from the prior two years. And their rate of growth in many ways fell below industry averages last year.

Cross-border M&A volume declined in the first half of 2019 while premium fees on M&A work slowed down for some. Realization on fees for New York firms declined more than the industry average. For some Wall Street firms, it was simply hard to match the success of 2018, which was a banner year for much of the industry.

Of 19 elite firms homegrown to New York, five saw declines in revenue: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, according to Am Law 100 figures released in late April. That's in contrast with just one firm in a parallel study last year that experienced a revenue decline. Only seven of the firms in the group saw revenue rise at or above 5% in 2019, compared with 12 firms the prior year.