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)How Do Atlanta Firms Stack Up in Am Law 100 Rankings?
Five Atlanta-based firms made the list, led by King & Spalding and Alston & Bird, for a total of 32 Am Law 100 firms with locations in the city.
April 21, 2020 at 04:46 PM
4 minute read
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.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Walking a Minute in Your Adversary’s Shoes: Addressing the Issue of 'Naive Realism' at Mediation
5 minute read
Anticipating a New Era of 'Extreme Vetting,' Big Law Immigration Attys Prep for Demand Surge
6 minute read
On The Move: Polsinelli Adds Health Care Litigator in Nashville, Ex-SEC Enforcer Joins BCLP in Atlanta
6 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Judge Denies Sean Combs Third Bail Bid, Citing Community Safety
- 2Republican FTC Commissioner: 'The Time for Rulemaking by the Biden-Harris FTC Is Over'
- 3NY Appellate Panel Cites Student's Disciplinary History While Sending Negligence Claim Against School District to Trial
- 4A Meta DIG and Its Nvidia Implications
- 5Deception or Coercion? California Supreme Court Grants Review in Jailhouse Confession Case
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
