With double-digit revenue growth year over year, New Jersey firm Cole Schotz finds itself firmly planted in the Am Law 200′s "second hundred" after first making the list two years ago.

The Hackensack-based firm's 15.9% revenue jump, to $118.3 million for fiscal 2019, pushes it up eight spots, to No. 188. The firm has occupied the 196th spot in each of the past two years.

Notwithstanding the current uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Cole Schotz's showing seems to solidify its position in the annual rankings, which are based on the prior fiscal year's gross revenue—and which are published in two installments, including the release of the No. 101 through No. 200 firms on Monday.

"We are very pleased with our overall performance last year and had been looking forward to continued growth in 2020," administrative partner Glenn Kazlow said in an emailed statement.

"Obviously, the pandemic has caused an unprecedented downturn in our economy and we are certainly not immune to the immediate impact it has had on businesses worldwide," he continued. "We are working with our clients to counsel them through this crisis and remain hopeful that they will spring back quickly when the crisis begins to ease. We are very fortunate to have invested in technology and training before the crisis began which has allowed us to fully function and serve our clients at a time when they have needed us most."

While Cole Schotz's name has become a familiar one in these rankings, other New Jersey homegrown firms already have achieved mainstay status. Including Cole Schotz, there are five local firms total in the rankings. And even with only five entries, the year-over-year changes in revenue range considerably.

Here are the New Jersey firms on the Am Law 200, in order of placement:

• Lowenstein Sandler—based in Roseland, with a strong New York presence—is knocking on the door of the first hundred. The firm's 11% year-over-year spike in gross revenue, to $343.1 million, pushes it two spots up the board, to No. 107. That's the second-best revenue growth rate of the New Jersey group, behind Cole Schotz. Lowenstein now has moved up the rankings in seven consecutive years. A year ago, the firm ranked 109th, with $309 million in gross revenue. It ranked 115th in 2018, with $270.6 million in gross revenue; 120th in 2017, with $256.5 million; and 122nd in 2016, with $252 million.

In an interview earlier this year, managing partner Gary Wingens credited the firm's strong 2019 in part to what he called a record-setting year for the number of investment fund launches advised, as well as banner years in venture capital, private equity and M&A deals. "We've been launching funds for some of the country's largest hedge funds and private equity funds for quite some time. In recent years we've really been building our market share among what we'd call well-pedigreed fund launches," he said in the interview.

• McCarter & English saw a 2% gross revenue decline year over year, to $245 million, and thus a corresponding slip of two spots down the board, to No. 127. The firm improved in per-lawyer metrics such as revenue per lawyer and profit per equity partner, though its overall attorney head count declined in 2019. Firm leaders pointed out that the Newark-based firm posted record-setting revenue years leading up to 2019, and remains in the process of scaling and adding such business-centric functions as a pricing and legal operations. In an interview earlier this year, executive committee chairman Joseph Lubertazzi Jr. called the firm's process one that highlights "efficiency, productivity and profitability," and said, "the best way to get lawyer buy-in is to show them the results."

The firm ranked 125th a year ago, with $250 million in gross revenue; 125th in 2018, with $237.2 million; 126th in 2017, with $237 million; and 128th in 2016, with $233 million.

• Cole Schotz's move up the board happens as McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter moves down—so the two firms change places in the order of New Jersey firms this year. Cole Schotz ranks 188th, with $118.3 million in gross revenue. It sat at No. 196 in each of the prior two years' rankings—with $102 million gross and $96.6 million gross, respectively.

• McElroy Deutsch, meanwhile, slips nine spots, to No. 191. The Morristown-based firm saw a 2.8% revenue decline year over year, to $115.7 million. The firm ranked 182nd a year ago, with $119 million in gross revenue; 181st in 2018, with $117.9 million; 178th in 2017, with $119 million; and 176th in 2016, with $118.5 million.

John Dunlea, the firm's COO/CFO, said by phone that attorney head count declined in 2019, to 231, as lawyers retired, went in-house or departed laterally. There have been other departures in 2020, including the bulk of the firm's health-care group going to Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis. Dunlea said, though, that the firm has added four laterals in recent weeks, and will bring on eight first-year associates in the fall. He pointed out that the firm's revenue per lawyer and profit per equity partner both improved in 2019. "Those numbers will be replenished" Dunlea said of the departures, and "there's work in the door," with bankruptcy and labor and employment busy, and insurance practice expected to pick up.

• Gibbons sits at No. 199—one spot down from last year—with $101.1 million in gross revenue for 2019, a 0.7% increase. The Newark-based firm has descended the list in four straight years. The firm ranked 198th last year, with $100.4 million in gross revenue; 194th in 2018, with $99.4 million; 189th in 2017, with $102.5 million; and 185th in 2016, with $108 million. A firm spokeswoman said Gibbons "is proud to be counted among the nation's largest law firms by The American Lawyer for the 14th year in a row."

Other New Jersey firms have made the Am Law 200 ranking over the years, including Sills Cummis & Gross and Archer & Greiner.

Archer's 2019 performance wasn't enough to put it back on the board—the firm most recently made the list in 2017 and 2013—but it was nevertheless positive. The Haddonfield-based firm posted a 7.1% increase in gross revenue in fiscal 2019, to $95.5 million, as firmwide attorney head count decreased by 1.7%, to 177 from 180, and revenue per lawyer jumped 8.9%, to $540,000 from $496,000.

The revenue gain "was accomplished at a time when we didn't add head count … so [the growth] does include a level of increased activity," firm president Christopher Gibson said in an interview earlier this year. "A lot of firms probably felt a bit of strength in the legal market."

What becomes of that strength as COVID-19 shakes the economy remains to be see. Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group's recent survey results showed strong law firm performance in the first quarter of 2020, but managing director Gretta Rusanow wrote that "discussing the first-quarter results in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic feels like writing a history paper."