The pandemic took a toll on the legal industry last year, and it's evident in the annual data we see coming out. More than a decade of growth for the nation's largest law firms came to an end, but some firms fared better than others. This year's NLJ 500 report dives into how firms managed through the pandemic, and it has some surprising results. Bigger firms tended to do better than their peers who were further down in the rankings, and many firms reported that the year ended better than expected.

The plaintiffs bar saw a similar pattern with head count as well. Many leaders in the plaintiffs bar reported having a decent year financially, and a few even made some expansions into new markets. And this appeared to be reflected in the numbers, which showed the largest firms were able to see some growth, while those in the middle of the pack were able to hold steady. A few did see a large dip in associate head count.