The release of the Am Law 100 rankings each May inevitably sparks hand-wringing: Which firms slipped the most? Who's considered “Super Rich” now? How many millions will it take to keep your partners happy this year? Amid all the egos and envy stoked by the rankings, below are some Am Law 100 takeaways for the Washington, D.C., market. Call it the D.C. Difference.

Among the nation's 100 highest-grossing firms:

• Fourteen firms count their largest office in Washington, D.C. In descending order of firmwide gross revenue, they are: Jones Day; Hogan Lovells; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; Squire Patton Boggs; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Covington & Burling; Holland & Knight; Arnold & Porter; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman; Venable; Crowell & Moring; Williams & Connolly; and Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Among those, five are considered by The American Lawyer to be primarily Washington-based firms, rather than national, international, or based in another city.