Editor’s note: Collective Second Hundred performance figures in this article have been revised based on updates to a firm’s headcount and per-lawyer financials.

Second Hundred law firms in 2022 did something they very rarely do: outpace the Am Law 100 in financial metrics. But 2023 was a different story, and the reality of the costs associated with building for the future and a somewhat unstable legal market caught up with many smaller firms.