Unaware a recession was looming, law firms grew their talent pools significantly in 2019. Lawyer head count for the largest global firms based on total attorneys was 231,558 in 2019, an increase of 8.0% from 2018. Seventy of the firms had 1,000 or more lawyers, compared with 57 firms last year. The number of lawyers listed here is the average full-time-equivalent for the 2019 fiscal year. For United Kingdom-based firms, the number of lawyers is the average full-time-equivalent for the fiscal year ending April 30.

Infographic credit: Roberto Jimenez/ALM