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This law firm is ranked No. 1 after posting $8.8B in gross revenue; which other firms are ‘category leaders’?

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 16, 2025, 9:52 am CDT

Kirkland & Ellis is once again ranked No. 1 for gross revenue in 2024, according to the American Lawyer’s Am Law 100.

Kirkland & Ellis had $8.8 billion in gross revenue, “almost jumping straight into $9 billion territory,” Law.com reports in a story that is one of several reports on the findings.

Other “category leaders” are Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which had the highest revenue per lawyer, at $4.47 million, and Kirkland & Ellis, which had the highest profits per equity partner, at $9.25 million.

Law firms “crushed it” based on financial performance in 2024, the article reports. The nation’s 100 top-grossing firms increased revenue by 13.3% last year, increased lawyer head count by 7.7%, and increased revenue per lawyer by 5.2%.

While revenue increased an average of 13.3% for the top 100 firms, only 20 firms gained that amount or more, according to firm consultants Bruce MacEwan and Janet Stanton, who spoke with Law.com. The other 80 were below that level. MacEwan is the president of Adam Smith Esq., and Stanton is a partner in the organization.

The top five firms for gross revenue are:

1. Kirkland & Ellis, $8.8 billion, up about 22% from 2023

2. Latham & Watkins, $7 billion, up about 23% from 2023

3. DLA Piper, $4.2 billion, up nearly 11% from 2023

4. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, $3.6 billion, up about 12% from 2023

5. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, $3.5 billion, up nearly 16% from 2023

The top firms for revenue per lawyer are:

1. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, $4.47 million

2. Susman Godfrey, $2.38 million

3. Sullivan & Cromwell, $2.33 million

4. Ropes & Gray, $2.33 million

5. Kirkland & Ellis, $2.29 million

The top firms for profits per equity partner are:

1. Kirkland & Ellis, $9.25 million

2. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, $9.03 million

3. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, $8.64 million

4. Davis Polk & Wardwell, $7.8 million

5. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, $7.66 million

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3. Litigation boutique firm will pay special…

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Litigation boutique firm will pay special bonuses as high as $60K

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 17, 2025, 12:51 pm CDT

Litigation boutique law firm Wilkinson Stekloff will pay special bonuses to associates ranging from $25,000 to $60,000, the firm recently told employees in a memo.

The bonuses will be paid June 1, according to Above the Law, which obtained a copy of the April 11 announcement.

The bonuses are “separate and apart from end-of-year bonuses,” the bonus memo said.

Here is the bonus scale:

• Class of 2024: $25,000

• Class of 2023: $30,000

• Class of 2022: $35,000

• Class of 2021: $40,000

• Class of 2020: $45,000

• Class of 2019: $50,000

• Class of 2018: $55,000

• Class of 2017: $60,000

Nonlawyers will receive a $7,500 bonus.

The bonus memo said the firm continues to be in “a particularly busy stretch” as it prepares for upcoming trials.

“We are also grateful that many of us are working on essential matters to fight government overreach and defend the rule of law,” the memo said.

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3. This law firm bills as much as $3,000 per…

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This law firm bills as much as $3,000 per hour

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 26, 2025, 1:46 pm CST

Some partners at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan bill as much as $3,000 per hour, according to court filings cited by Reuters.

The law firm bills between $1,860 and $3,000 per hour for partners, between $1,775 and $2,725 per hour for counsel, and between $1,035 and $1,665 per hour for associates, Reuters reports.

“Quinn Emanuel’s $3,000 top rate marks a milestone for leading U.S. law firms as lawyers’ hourly fees continue to soar,” the article reports. “Law firms routinely raise their rates each year, and top rates at some of the largest U.S. firms have pushed past $2,500 an hour or higher in recent years, court records show.”

The court filings did not indicate which partners are billing $3,000 per hour, but unnamed sources told Reuters that the lawyers are Alex Spiro, who has represented billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and William Burck, the firm’s global co-managing partner.

A Quinn Emanuel spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

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3. This law firm will pay special spring bonuses…

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This law firm will pay special spring bonuses of up to $25K

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 19, 2025, 9:21 am CST

Knobbe Martens has announced that it will pay special spring bonuses of up to $25,000.

Law.com reported on the announcement, made in a Feb. 14 email.

Knobbe Martens will pay $2,500 to first year associates, $5,000 to second-year associates, $10,000 to third-year associates, $15,000 to fourth-year associates, $20,000 to fifth-year associates, and $25,000 to counsel and to associates with at least six years of experience.

The spring bonuses are in addition to year-end bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, according to Law.com.

The year-end bonuses were bigger in BigLaw, according to Above the Law’s associate compensation scorecard. Many law firms paid up to $115,000 in year-end bonuses.

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3. Dechert sues former lawyer for alleged salary…

Law Firms

Dechert sues former lawyer for alleged salary overpayment

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 29, 2025, 10:56 am CST

Dechert has sued a former senior project attorney for more than $90,000, the money that the law firm said it is still owed after a $132,250 salary overpayment.

The Jan. 21 lawsuit filed in the trial-level New York Supreme Court blames the salary overpayment on a clerical error.

Law.com has the story.

The suit says senior project attorney Kathleen Fay continued to receive her regular salary for a 7½ month period ending in May 2024, even though she wasn’t performing billable work at that time. A temporary employment agreement in effect during that period provided that Fay would be paid only for billable work assigned to her and performed.

The agreement was reached in late September 2023 after Fay asked to remain listed on the firm’s website. Fay’s contract as a project attorney ended without an extension June 30, 2023, but she continued to be paid for three months and was offered consulting services to help with her job search, the suit says.

When Dechert discovered its mistake in mid-May 2024, it demanded its money back. Fay did not comply, the suit says.

“In an attempt to make itself whole,” the suit says, Dechert “exercised its rights to recoup certain payments made to or otherwise due to” Fay.

Fay told Law.com that the suit allegations “are baseless and its actions are unethical.” She worked on the firm’s product liability team for more than a decade “and am now a law librarian earning less than a paralegal,” she said.

“It is unfortunate that Dechert has chosen to remove my vested funds from my 401(k) account and to bully me in public,” Fay told Law.com. “However, the equities and the law favor me and I look forward to vindicating my rights and reputation in court.”

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3. 2 BigLaw firms flip-flop on associate special…

Lawyer Pay

2 BigLaw firms flip-flop on associate special bonuses, agreeing to pay market rate

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 6, 2025, 3:48 pm CST

Hogan Lovells and Perkins Coie have decided to pay special bonuses at the market rate of $6,000 to $25,000 after associates were initially told that they wouldn’t receive the money as a matter of course.

The special bonuses will be paid in addition to year-end bonuses ranging from $20,000 for the class of 2023 to $115,000 for the most senior associates, report Law.com and Above the Law, which published the new bonus memos here.

“It’s not the first time a firm has changed its mind about associate bonuses,” Law.com reports, “and it likely won’t be the last. Backlash from associates, concerns from partners about losing key associate talent, and peer firm pressure are just some of the reasons why a firm may reverse a decision when it comes to associate bonuses, according to legal industry observers.”

Hogan Lovells initially said it wasn’t paying routine special bonuses but it would give additional money to associates who exceed minimum hours. Now, it will pay special bonuses “on top of the other associate bonuses awarded,” a spokesperson told Law.com. “This means that many of our associates who qualify for the hours-based bonuses can earn bonuses above the announced scale of many other top firms.”

The spokesperson told Law.com that Hogan Lovells decided to match the market rate for special bonuses “following discussions with associates, partners and other stakeholders. An important part of our culture as a firm is that we listen, and we have made this decision after careful consultation.”

A Perkins Coie spokesperson told Law.com that its decision “is consistent with our commitment to paying market-competitive compensation and reflects the firm’s strong financial performance this year.”

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2 BigLaw firms reject routine special bonuses as several boutiques match or surpass market rate

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 19, 2024, 11:00 am CST

Above the Law’s bonus tracker continues to expand, as an increasing number of boutique law firms announce associate bonuses that match or surpass market rates set by Milbank.

About 50 firms were on the bonus list when it was last updated Dec. 12, including nine boutique firms. At least five more boutiques announced bonuses since then, as chronicled in separate Above the Law posts.

One of them is Susman Godfrey, which “absolutely blows away the current market standard,” Above the Law reports.

Law.com and Law360 also have coverage.

The market rate for year-end bonuses is $15,000 to $115,000, while the going rate for additional special bonuses is $6,000 to $25,000. That makes the total bonus $21,000 for the class of 2024 to $140,000 for the class of 2016 and beyond.

Susman Godfrey is paying median bonuses ranging from $110,000 to $220,000. All 286 of the firm’s employees are also receiving bonuses.

Not to be outdone, midsize firm Boies Schiller Flexner previously announced that “multiple associates” at the firm are receiving bonuses of $1 million or more this year. In addition, “numerous associates” received above-market bonuses, including several who received $300,000 or more. The outsized bonuses are being paid to associates who opted for a bonus formula with a revenue-share component, rather than market-rate bonuses.

Other boutiques that have announced above-market bonuses include Selendy Gay (with combined bonuses ranging from $23,250 to $157,250) and Wilkinson Stekloff (with combined bonuses ranging from $28,500 to $197,500).

While above-market bonuses by those firms are “not a new phenomenon,” Law.com reports, the number of others offering “eye-popping bonuses appears to be growing.”

Boutique firms are in a better position to offer above-market bonuses because their overhead is lower than that of BigLaw firms, said Jeff Lowe, a Washington, D.C., recruiter with legal search company CenterPeak, in an interview with Law.com The pool of associates who will receive the bonuses is also smaller, Lowe pointed out.

Some BigLaw firms, meanwhile, are not falling in line with the standard special bonuses that range from $6,000 to $25,000, report Bloomberg Law and Above the Law (here and here). The latest firms that aren’t paying routine special bonuses are Perkins Coie and Hogan Lovells.

While Hogan Lovells isn’t paying the routine special bonuses, it will pay additional bonuses to associates who exceed minimum hours.

Other firms requiring an hourly minimum for special bonuses include Covington & Burling, Fish & Richardson, Katten Muchin Rosenman, Norton Rose Fulbright, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (paying “super bonuses” to high billers), Seward & Kissel and Sidley Austin, according to previous coverage.

Bonus decisions are being made amid a “muted” market for associates following talent wars in 2021, Bloomberg Law points out. Then came a period of cutbacks that brought some associate layoffs.

Now, firms are realistically looking at what they can afford, said Katherine Loanzon, a managing director at search company Kinney Recruiting, in an interview with Bloomberg Law.

“Firms just don’t feel the pressure anymore to follow,” Loanzon told Bloomberg Law.

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3. BigLaw is taking an ‘uneven approach’ to…

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BigLaw is taking an ‘uneven approach’ to bonuses

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 23, 2024, 12:11 pm CST

Several BigLaw firms have yet to announce bonuses, while others are refusing to follow the standard bonus schedule set by Milbank.

“The discrepancy among big firms highlights the uneven approach BigLaw is taking to bonuses so far in 2024, with fewer firms apparently in lockstep with the bonus decisions of the industry elite and several firms delaying their bonus decisions compared with others,” Law.com reported in a Dec. 20 story.

Law firms that had not announced bonuses by Dec. 20 included Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; Williams & Connolly; Venable; McGuireWoods; and ArentFox Schiff, the article reports. Above the Law is keeping track of bonuses at this link.

Some BigLaw firms that have announced bonuses are tying special bonuses to hourly requirements or are not paying them at all.

The market rate for year-end bonuses is $15,000 to $115,000, while the going rate for additional special bonuses is $6,000 to $25,000. That makes the total bonus $21,000 for the class of 2024 and $140,000 for the class of 2016 and beyond.

Associate legal recruiter Darin Morgan of legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa doesn’t anticipate a “mad rush” for special bonuses.

“Those are the kind of things that we tend to see when the lateral market is super, super high and firms are fighting tooth and nail against their competition to keep good associates,” Morgan told Law.com.

Morgan was, however “a little bit surprised that there’s so many firms who have yet to announce” bonus decisions.

Lockstep bonuses may not be a good idea for all firms, according to Above the Law founder David Lat in a post for Original Jurisdiction. He cited his advice in a previous blog post that he wrote on associate compensation.

Firm leaders should make compensation decisions, he said, “based on what’s best for their particular firm, in light of factors such as where it sits in the Biglaw hierarchy, where it operates in the legal market, who its peer firms are, and what those peers have (or haven’t) done.”

Compensation decisions can eat into partner profits, which can cause top performers to begin looking at other firms, Lat wrote.

“To all the firms out there that have not yet announced bonuses,” Lat wrote, “be smart. Do what’s right for your firm and your people. Your associates might grumble in the short term. But when they’re still gainfully employed a year from now, not laid off because you lost critical practice groups to Kirkland or Paul Hastings, they’ll thank you (or at least should thank you).”

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3. Associates at this BigLaw firm can choose…

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Associates at this BigLaw firm can choose one of 3 billable-hour budgets

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 9, 2024, 3:19 pm CST

Steptoe is adopting a new compensation system next year that allows associates to choose one of three different tracks based on hourly targets.

Pay varies based on the billable budget, Law.com reports. Full-time associates can choose one of these tracks, according to the article:

  • 1,800 billable hours with pay at their current compensation level, which appears to start at $215,000 for first-year associates, according to data cited by Law.com.

  • 2,000 billable hours with pay that begins at $225,000 for first-year associates and increases to $502,500 for eighth-year associates.

  • 2,200 billable hours with pay that begins at $236,250 for first-year associates and increases to $581,750 for eighth-year associates.

Gwen Renigar, the law firm’s chair, told associates in a note Friday that all three compensation scales have the same opportunities for promotion, the article reports. All three also include 200 hours of pro bono and nonbillable work.

Bonuses will be given for making the billable target and for exceeding it by a certain amount, Renigar told Law.com in an interview. There is also the possibility of a bonus for bringing in new business, Renigar said.

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3. $1M-plus bonuses will be paid to ‘multiple…

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$1M-plus bonuses will be paid to ‘multiple associates’ at this prominent law firm

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 11, 2024, 10:10 am CST

“Multiple associates” at Boies Schiller Flexner are receiving bonuses of $1 million or more this year, thanks to a formula based on law firm contributions and revenue generation, according to an internal memo obtained by several publications.

In addition, the memo said, “numerous associates—including some very junior associates—received bonuses far in excess of the very top of the market, including several who received bonuses of $300,000 or more.”

Bloomberg Law broke the news. Stories followed by Law360, Law.com and Above the Law, which published the full memo.

More than 30 mostly BigLaw firms have announced that they are paying year-end and special bonuses that match the schedule sent by Milbank. The totals range from $21,000 to $140,000, based on associate year.

In all, more than 95% of Boies Schiller associates are receiving bonuses on a par with or higher than market-rate bonuses, the memo said. Those who received less “invested material time in one or more contingency cases that have not yet paid out,” the memo said.

Boies Schiller announced in 2020 that it was changing its bonus structure to offer associates a choice between market-rate bonuses and bonuses based on a formula with a revenue-share component The outsized bonuses are being paid to many associates who chose the revenue formula.

Associates were split about 50-50 in their initial choices, Matthew L. Schwartz, Boies Schiller’s managing partner and chairman-elect, told Bloomberg Law.

Since then, he said, the vast majority of associates chose formula bonuses. Now, the firm no longer allows incoming associates to choose the market scale. The market-rate system will end when current associates who chose that option are promoted to partner.

Schwartz told Law360 that the firm’s formula bonus rewards lawyers who worked incredibly hard for clients.

“Sometimes that is the result of contingency or other cases earning a premium; sometimes it is related to business generation; and sometimes it’s tied to the number of hours worked,” Schwartz said. “We ask our associates to take on significant responsibilities early in their careers, and we’re more than happy to reward them by sharing in the upside of the returns the firm receives as a result.”

Boies Schiller is taking two other steps to attract top-quality associates. Any current associate who successfully recruits a lateral associate will earn a $25,000 referral bonus after both remain employed there for six months.

In addition, the firm will pay a $150,000 signing bonus for any associate who joins the firm directly from a clerkship with a federal court at the district or appellate level. A new associate with multiple qualifying clerkships will get a $175,000 hiring bonus.

The new clerkship bonus schedule “puts Boies Schiller ahead of competitors by at least $25,000,” Law.com reports.

Bloomberg Law reports that Boies Schiller “is in a position to give higher bonuses after turning around its financial trajectory.” The publication cited American Lawyer data showing that the firm earned $246 million in revenue in 2023 following a down year in 2022 when revenue decreased to $220 million.

Firms paying market-rate bonuses are listed on Above the Law’s bonus scorecard.