O'Melveny & Myers has overtaken Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in turnover terms and Latham & Watkins in profitability after posting a record year for 2003.

The firm saw the biggest increases of any of the four major Los Angeles outfits with revenues up by 16% to $658m (£349.1m), against the previous year's $565m (£299.8m).

The hike puts O'Melveny ahead of Gibson Dunn's $645m (£342.2m) revenue, although it is still dwarfed by Latham's current turnover of $1.03bn (£547.6m).

O'Melveny's partner profits also surged by 15% to hit $1.28m, (£679,200), surpassing Latham's average of $1.27m (£675,470), but behind Gibson Dunn's tally of $1.37m (£728,540).

O'Melveny chairman Arthur Culvahouse told Legal Week: "The firm continues to be very strong in litigation but our finance practice is also going well. We have also picked up a good selection of venture capital and private equity deals."

The main driver for the expansion of the firm's private equity practice was the acquisition in July 2002 of the highly profitable New York boutique O'Sullivan, which boasted JP Morgan and Apollo Investments among its clients.

In 2003, O'Melveny also bolstered its domestic West Coast practice with the hire of a five-partner team from Brobeck Phleger & Harrison and the appointment of World Bank general counsel Ko-Yung Tung.

Major instructions for the Los Angeles firm included the California Department of Water Resources' $11.3bn (£6bn) bond offer, for which O'Melveny advised underwriter JP Morgan Securities.

Los Angeles' other leading firm, Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, last week unveiled similarly robust figures with partner profits up 13% to hit $1.06m (£566,000) and revenues up 10% at $537m (£287m).

The results are the second year running that top Los Angeles firms have declared above trend growth, with many West Coast firms closing the gap with their East Coast rivals.