Atlanta skyscrapers housing (from left) King & Spalding, Smith Gambrell & Russell and The Four Seasons, home which houses many small boutique law firms. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

The Am Law 100 rankings are out, and five Atlanta-based firms again made the list of the country's highest-grossing law firms.

King & Spalding grossed the highest of the five, with 2019 revenue of $1.34 billion. That pushed the firm up one spot in the ranking from last year, to No. 22. Alston & Bird was next, with revenue of $835.87 million, pushing it up one spot to No. 51.

Troutman Sanders grossed $549.62 million but dropped two places to No. 70, despite a 5.45% increase in revenue growth. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart grossed $520.1 million, pushing it up one rung to No. 72. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, with revenue of $478.82 million, maintained its place at No. 78 on the list.

Including these five firms, there are 32 Am Law 100 firms with offices in Atlanta.

According to The American Lawyer's report on Tuesday, 2019 was a strong year overall for the Am Law 100. Revenue grew 5% on average, hitting a record $104 billion. But the rate of expansion was down a bit from 2018, when average revenue growth for the Am Law 100 hit 8%, the peak year for growth since the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing recession.

Several of the Atlanta-based firms reported revenue growth exceeding the 5% average revenue growth for the group. Kilpatrick posted a 6.3% revenue increase last year, while revenue grew 6.1% at King & Spalding and 5.4% at Troutman.

That said, Alston, with 2.9% revenue growth, and Ogletree, with 2% revenue growth, were among the 86 firms overall reporting revenue gains.

For the 100 high-grossing firms making up the ranking, revenue per lawyer increased on average last year by 3% to $1,001,289. That was at a slower rate than the 4.2% average RPL gain posted by the Am Law 100 in 2018.

Among the five Atlanta-based firms, Kilpatrick and Alston & Bird posted above-average RPL gains. Kilpatrick's RPL jumped 7.5% to $842,000, while Alston's grew 5.6% to $1,050,000.

Troutman saw RPL growth of 2.3% to $828,000, while Ogletree's increased just 0.3% for $604,000. King & Spalding's RPL dropped by 1.5%, despite solid revenue growth, in part because the firm increased average annual lawyer head count by 7.7% to 1,081 lawyers.

Of the 100 Am Law firms, 41 reported revenue that was greater than $1 billion. Only King & Spalding was in that category for the five Atlanta-based firms.

But King & Spalding fell just shy of making The American Lawyer's Super Rich list this year, after being the only Atlanta-based firm on it last year. Thirty Am Law 100 firms were deemed Super Rich, which is based on profit per lawyer of $500,000 and revenue per lawyer of $1.1 million.

King & Spalding's profit per lawyer decreased from $510,000 in 2018 to $489,000 last year, even though its RPL of $1,149,000 was above the cutoff. That was despite a 3.2% increase in net income, pushing up profit per equity partner to a record $3 million. Williams & Connolly also dropped from the Super Rich list–and out of the Am Law 100.