The 500 Largest Law Firms In America (2023)
There are many different and exciting ways to rank law firms. How prestigious are they? How much money are they making? How much do partners earn? How much are associates earning in cash compensation? How big are they?
Yes, size matters, and because the legal profession is obsessed with every single measurable and quantifiable factor law firms have to offer, there’s obviously a ranking for that.
So, which Biglaw firm is the biggest of them all?
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Today, the National Law Journal unleashed its annual NLJ 500, a ranking of largest law firms in the United States covering the previous calendar year. If you’ve ever wondered about precise law firm headcounts, this is the ranking for you.
These are the 10 largest law firms in America, according to NLJ, along with some insights on the list:
Baker McKenzie DLA Piper Kirkland & Ellis Latham & Watkins Norton Rose Fulbright White & Case Hogan Lovells Greenberg Traurig Jones Day Morgan Lewis
Law firms across the nation continued to grow their headcount in 2022, especially in the associate and nonequity ranks, despite a slowdown in demand amid financial headwinds that categorized the latter half of the year. The majority of the largest firms recorded moderate head count growth, leading to several ranking adjustments at the top of the NLJ 500. Baker McKenzie (No. 1) and DLA Piper (No. 2) retained their positions. Baker McKenzie maintained the top spot despite slightly decreasing its headcount by 0.3% from 4,795 to 4,779 full-time equivalent attorneys. DLA Piper stayed steady in second place, growing its bench by 5.6% to 4,255 attorneys. … The larger the firm, the more it can gain lawyers or lose them without significantly impacting its overall head count or position. That can be seen through firms that had large percentage increases or decreases, yet retained their prior position or only moved up or down a few slots from last year’s NLJ 500 leaderboard. Unlike last year, however, head count growth at the biggest law firms accelerated.
Click here to see the NLJ’s full list of the 500 largest law firms in the country.
Congratulations go out to Baker McKenzie for employing more lawyers than any other firm. Once again, this firm wins the award for putting the “big” in Biglaw. Give a round of applause to the rest of the Top 10 for keeping their Biglaw firms bigger than all the rest. As for every other firm, keep growing and someday you’ll be a Biglaw behemoth too.
The 2023 NLJ 500: Ranked by Head Count [National Law Journal]
The 2023 NLJ 500: Headcount Growth Accelerated For Firms [National Law Journal]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
Source: Above the Law
