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Our annual survey of the nation's largest law firms shows that Big Law continued to shed lawyers at a brisk clip in 2010. Nearly 2,900 fewer lawyers worked for the 250 top firms last year. That's in addition to the 6,600 attorneys who departed in 2009. In the 34 years the NLJ has been surveying large firms to gather headcount numbers, there have never been multiyear declines of this magnitude.

THE NLJ 250 The National Law Journal

April 25, 2011

The NLJ 250, The National Law Journal's annual survey of the nation’s largest law firms, shows that Big Law continued to shed lawyers at a brisk clip in 2010. Nearly 2,900 fewer lawyers worked for the 250 top firms last year. That's in addition to the approximately 6,600 attorneys who departed in 2009. In the 34 years the NLJ has been surveying large firms to gather headcount numbers, there have never been multiyear declines of this magnitude. Editor's note Revised 2010 figures show that NLJ 250 firms employed 2,868 fewer lawyers than in 2009. Expand that view to 2008, and the headcount drain is a rounding error away from 10,000 attorneys. THE CHARTS THE 2011 NLJ 250 The full list of firms, broken out by headcount of total partners, nonequity partners, associates, and other attorneys. NLJ 250 Poster Download the PDF version of the NLJ 250. Branch Offices Domestic and international offices and headcounts. Gains & Losses Firms with the biggest gains and steepest declines in attorney count. Largest U.S. Law Offices Firms reported 37 U.S. offices with more than 300 lawyers.

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Infographic: Big Law USA A map of 21 U.S. cities with the highest number of lawyers. Plus, a global view of the NLJ 250 firms' international offices. FIRM FOCUS The Ohio Players Roetzel & Andress reigns supreme in the one-time "Rubber Capital of the World." But the firm has discovered life outside Akron — and it likes it. Golden State Warriors Despite the recession and a municipal client's corruption scandal, Riverside, Calif.'s Best Best & Krieger is growing again. The New Blood Eight firms are new to the NLJ 250 this year. What factors are driving their growth? METHODOLOGY Although most of the charts are self-explanatory, we've provided some information about the process, criteria and definitions. The lawyer totals are based on the average number of full-time equivalent attorneys for the period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010. The NLJ sent surveys to about 300 law firms to determine the 250 largest. Lawyer counts do not include contract or temporary attorneys. A firm must have more lawyers based in the United States than in any other single country to be included on the list. Firms are ranked by the number of full-time equivalent attorneys, rather than headcount. Numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number. In case of a tie, we rank firms by the actual number of attorneys before rounding. If the tie persists, we rank firms by the total number of partners, and then the number of equity partners. The city listed next to the firm name is the firm's principal or largest office.

The NLJ 250: Editor's Note The National Law Journal

April 25, 2011

"And another hundred people just got off of the train." That's a line from Stephen Sondheim'sCompany and it seems somehow appropriate as we consider this year's NLJ 250: The biggest law firms in America are the train in this scenario, and they continued to off-load attorneys at a blazing clip in 2009. Revised 2010 figures show that NLJ 250 firms employed 2,868 fewer lawyers than in 2009. Expand that view to 2008, and the headcount drain is a rounding error away from 10,000 attorneys. In the 34 years The National Law Journal has been surveying large firms to gather headcount numbers, there have never been multiyear declines of this magnitude. Overall, 140 firms reported lower headcounts last year; three firms reported no changes; and 107 added lawyers. But the players who are hiring aren't exactly setting hiring records. On average, firms that grew added 14 lawyers each. Flat was the order of the day.

Grim as the numbers be, let's consider the following: Despite the cuts, the number of lawyers working at the 250 largest firms in America is still higher than it was in 2006 and not far from where it was in 2007 (i.e., the two years before the recession). And though the decreases are steep by big firm standards, the cuts still represent less than 10% of the attorney workforce among NLJ 250 firms. It's not exactly happy news for the lawyers who've departed Big Law, but it's worth remembering that firms reached record sizes in the two years prior to the recession.

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Some of our readers may remember that, with the survey of the nation's 250 largest law firms, published in November 2010, we pressed the reset button on our methodology. Where we had previously asked firms for the number of full-time equivalent lawyers (FTEs) on Sept. 30 of a given year, we now ask firms for the average number of FTEs for the entire calendar year. Our goal: to give readers a more accurate picture of headcount over the course of a year — making the NLJ 250 a more useful tool in benchmarking hiring and headcount. (For more on our methodology, please see Page S12.)

The numbers we published in our last survey were collected during summer 2010 and represented estimates by firms of the final average FTE numbers for 2010. We promised then to come back in April with final numbers for 2010 — and that's what you will find in this special report.

Lest anyone think that we're simply repeating ourselves, the estimates firms provided and their final "hard" numbers are quite different from those we ran last year.

By the end of the year, NLJ 250 firms employed 124,156 attorneys — roughly 2,100 fewer than the November estimate. Much of the variance lies in the top half of the chart, where the largest firms came in with numbers 30, 40, 50 or, in a few cases, 100 lawyers lower than their initial estimate. Our new list also reflects two firms that went into full meltdown mode in the months after we put together the November report. Between them, Howrey and Yoss, both of which have since closed up shop, reported losing 258 lawyers.

At the top of our survey (again) is Baker & McKenzie, the international giant upon whose global empire the sun never sets. At 3,738 lawyers, it's 219 attorneys slimmer than it was in 2009. But on many measures of size, it continues to lead the NLJ 250. It has the most offices with more than 100 lawyers (10), and the most NLJ 250 lawyers in China (262). In fact, Baker has the most NLJ 250 lawyers seemingly everywhere: Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Despite its global reach, Baker does not own the largest international outpost among NLJ 250 firms. That title belongs to Hogan Lovells, with a 542-attorney office in London. (Hogan — the product of former NLJ 250 stalwart Hogan & Hartson and U.K.-based Lovells — blasts onto the NLJ 250 at No. 4.) For more on the biggest NLJ offices by region, see the following page.

Our list ranks U.S. firms by their total lawyers around the world. So which firm has the most attorneys actually working in the United States? It's not Baker or DLA Piper, which is No. 2 on our list. The U.S. champ is Jones Day, with 1,806 attorneys inside the United States. In fact, the top two firms on the NLJ 250 don't even rank among the top five when it comes to lawyers in the States. Jones Day is followed by Greenberg Traurig (1,617 U.S. lawyers); Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (1,555); K&L Gates (1,478); and Latham & Watkins (1,350).

Unfortunately, we offer one correction: In this issue, you'll find a poster with NLJ 250 results. It goes to press a few weeks before the rest of this edition. After it did, the New Jersey-based firm Gibbons reported that it made a mistake in its numbers. On the poster, it ranks at No. 181. The actual rank is No. 202. We regret that we're unable to present a poster that accurately reflects our rankings, and we will refrain from a gratuitous New Jersey joke. (In all seriousness, the NLJ 250 is a big undertaking, and we thank firms for taking part.)

In the pages that follow, you'll find additional data and analysis. We profile two firms that have carved out unique strategies in smaller markets — Akron, Ohio and Riverside, Calif. And we introduce (or reintroduce) several firms that debut (or return) to the NLJ 250 this year. We'll also be rolling out more information throughout the week on NLJ.com, so please stay tuned.

— David Brown

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THE CHARTS THE 2011 NLJ 250 The full list of firms, broken out by headcount of total partners, nonequity partners, associates, and other attorneys.

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Gains & Losses Firms with the biggest gains and steepest declines in attorney count. Los Angeles firms Lewis Brisbois and Quinn Emanuel showed a healthy gain of 15%, while Miami’s Yoss lost a whopping 29% of its lawyers in 2010 GROWTH LEADERS

BIGGEST DECLINES

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The NLJ 250: Largest U.S. Law Offices Firms reported 37 offices in the United States with more than 300 lawyers. The National Law Journal | April 25, 2011

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Infographic: Big Law USA A breakdown by total number of attorneys in 21 U.S. cities. Plus, a global view of the NLJ 250 firms' international offices. The National Law Journal | April 25, 2011

Interactive link: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202491269007 THE STORIES

The Ohio Players Roetzel & Andress reigns supreme in the one-time "Rubber Capital of the World." But the firm has discovered life outside Akron — and it likes it. Karen Sloan The National Law Journal

Roetzel & Andress' Tim Ochsenhirt Photo: Andrew McAllister

Instead of sweeping high-rise views of the Hudson River or Lake Michigan, Roetzel & Andress' sixth-floor headquarters offers clear sight lines of the local minor league baseball stadium. There is no sleek, ultramodern furniture in the firm's reception area and conference rooms, but there are black-and-white photos of the local department store that occupied the building back when people shopped downtown instead of at suburban malls.

The atmosphere at Roetzel — the largest law firm in Akron, Ohio — is far more Main Street that Wall Street (literally — its address is 222 Main Street). But that folksy charm can be deceiving: Roetzel & Andress is a midsize firm with national ambitions and a history of strategic and steady growth.

A quarter-century ago, Roetzel was a struggling firm of 30 lawyers trying to right itself following a wave of partner departures. Today, it's the 191st-largest law firm in the United States, with 210 lawyers, according to the latest numbers from The National Law Journal's survey of the nation's 250 largest firms. Since 1985, the firm has expanded from two offices in Ohio to five throughout the state, plus another five offices in Florida and outposts in Washington and New York.

"This firm started in Akron, but I knew we couldn't stay alive in one city," said Chairman Timothy Ochsenhirt, who has been running the firm since 1985. "You have to expand your product line to keep up with changing demand. Do you need to grow dramatically or be all over the globe? I'm not sure of that. But your clients need a certain level of comfort that you can assist them as they do business around the world."

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As the leaders of Roetzel & Andress see it, the firm's challenge lies in raising its national profile and extending its practices while maintaining a collegial, midsize atmosphere and conservative fiscal approach. They feel pretty confident they're up to the challenge. "I think it's very possible that we have another five or six offices five years from now," said Chief Operating Officer Sue Atkinson. "But I also think that we will have growth within the existing offices. We're very opportunistic. It's a matter of what we want and what opportunities we see."

Roetzel was founded in Akron in 1876 and still houses 56 attorneys, its administrators and back-office functions there. Partners insist that the Akron office doesn't dominate the firm — the address actually might be a liability when it comes to perceptions of the firm, said real estate partner Brian Moore. "There is an awareness issue there," he said. "Some people don't know how expansive our reach has become. Some people will say, 'That's just an Akron firm,' but we are strategically hammering away at awareness in other markets."

NOT SMALL-TIME Any lingering perception that Roetzel is small-time hasn't stopped it from snagging high-profile clients. It counts Marathon Petroleum Co., FedEx Ground Package System Inc. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. among its clients — although those companies tend to retain the firm to handle specialized matters. "We don't do their sophisticated transactional work," said firm President Jeffrey Casto, a litigation partner. "They'll go to New York for that, but we've been able to get into some sophisticated niches."

For example, the firm's litigators have developed expertise in tire products liability defense and have tried those cases in nearly every state on behalf of a half-dozen tire companies. The work has a little to do with Akron's history as "The Rubber Capital of the World," Casto said — all the major tire manufacturers except Goodyear have long since moved their headquarters out of the city.

The firm's real bread and butter is midmarket companies, Casto said — it represents banks, utilities, hospitals, local governments and nonprofit entities, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The firm sells itself as full service, but with particularly strong business services, real estate and litigation practices. Its intellectual property, bankruptcy and creditors' rights and employment law practices have grown in recent years.

Ohio's legal market is fairly robust and competitive — a leftover from its heyday as a manufacturing hub — with no shortage of midsize firms like Roetzel & Andress and larger players like Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease; Thompson Hine; and Dinsmore & Shohl. Quite a few large national firms maintain sizable offices in the state, including Jones Day; Squire, Sanders & Dempsey; and Baker Hostetler. Kip Reader, managing partner of Cleveland-based Ulmer & Berne, characterized the Ohio legal market as "fiercely competitive." Roetzel & Andress, he said, "is known as being a politically oriented firm. They do a lot of government work, and have had some politicians at the firm."

Those political connections have created occasional headaches for the firm, as they did last year when the Summit County, Ohio, Council came under fire for rehiring Roetzel to perform lobbying work without considering other options. Critics noted that partner Wayne Jones, who has since retired from the firm, was also the chairman of the Summit County Democratic Party. The committee overseeing the contract comprised a hefty Democratic majority.

KEEPING CUSTOMERS HAPPY Partners insist that client service, not politics, is the firm's focus. "This paycheck is made possible by a satisfied client." That line appears on every paycheck distributed by Roetzel & Andress, and cuts to the heart of what the firm's leaders and partners said sets it apart from the competition.

Allan Crider, associate counsel for litigation at Minneapolis swimming pool pump manufacturer Pentair Inc., agreed. "In many ways, when you work with them, it seems like they are a small firm — and I mean that in a good way," said Crider, whose company relies on Roetzel & Andress for a significant portion of its legal needs, including litigation, products liability, environmental matters and intellectual property. "They make you feel like you are a special client, and they're very proactive."

Partners take collegiality seriously, in part because they have no financial incentive to be selfish with clients, said Robert Blackham, the firm's national litigation chairman. Roetzel has operated for nearly 20 years under a closed compensation system, in which partner and associate salaries remain confidential. Ochsenhirt makes all pay decisions. Origination credit and other client-relationship measures don't factor into it.

"We don't have this, 'Who is going to get this and who is going to get that,' " Ochsenhirt said. "Just help your neighbor. If you don't want to help your neighbor, go to another law firm and fight with your partners."

Casto puts it another way: "We have a low jerk quotient."

Roetzel has also unsaddled partners from nearly all administrative duties. Ochsenhirt makes all the major strategic decisions, with advice from Chief Financial Officer Joseph Maslowski, Atkinson, Casto and other key partners. That advisory group runs day-to-day operations .

The compensation system helps to fosters harmony and attract lateral hires, Maslowski said. The "strong chairman" system is another selling point to those who would prefer to spend their time building their practices rather than in committee meetings, he added.

"I think there is a lot of trust in the management of the firm," said Casto, who is on track to succeed 64-year-old Ochsenhirt as chairman when he retires, although there is no specific transition date. "We don't take a lot of votes, but we have meetings with the partners where we exchange information."

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The taut management structure allowed a quick response when the economy tanked in 2008. Ochsenhirt holed up for two days in January 2009 with his two top administrators to slash the firm's operating budget. Several practice areas had slowed significantly, including real estate and public finance, and an uncomfortable number of attorneys were hurting for work.

They quickly decided to cut the $75,000 party the firm planned to sponsor during the annual shopping center convention in Las Vegas. Gone, too, were corporate sponsorships at golf tournaments and one day of the firm's three-day partnership retreat.

Some cuts were more painful than others. In February, the firm axed 15 associates, including several incoming first-years. It was the first layoff in the firm's history, though Roetzel later offered those incoming associates jobs. "It wasn't just for financial reasons that we laid people off," Ochsenhirt said. "People were scrambling for work. We had people working at 50% or 60% of capacity, and if we'd have brought in even more people, we would have had a whole bunch of attorneys working at 40% of capacity. I don't think that's good for their minds. I don't think anybody likes to be underproductive."

Cutting the budget has helped the firm maintain revenue growth. Revenue has grown during each of the past five years — with the exception of 2009, when it was flat, Maslowski said. Firm financials in 2010 were the strongest since 2006, with revenue growing 3.5% from 2009. Profits grew even more last year, though Maslowski declined to provide the exact figure. About two-thirds of firm revenue is derived from its Ohio offices, Maslowski said, with the remainder spread among Florida, Washington and New York.

Roetzel has something of a pricing advantage over larger, coastal firms, Ochsenhirt said, but that isn't a major part of the sales pitch. "Sometimes we've received work because our rates are lower than other firms," he said. "That's just a fact of nature. I don't necessarily do that for competitive reasons, but sometimes it works to our advantage. Who just wants the cheapest lawyer? When you're having dental work done, you want to make sure the person knows what they're doing."

As for the future, Roetzel is searching for a group of lawyers to bring aboard in Chicago. At the same time, the firm is considering moving into Charlotte, N.C., and California and Texas. Manufacturing has long been on the decline in Ohio and the firm sees most growth happening outside the state. The legal marketplace is changing, but Ochsenhirt said he's not about to throw out the firm's playbook and start from scratch.

"We sort of run a dull business here," he said. "We have good clients. We do good work. We bill, they pay. It keeps going and going. It's not an overly complex business."

Contact Karen Sloan at ksloan@alm.com.

Golden State Warriors Despite the recession and a municipal client's corruption scandal, Riverside, Calif.'s Best Best & Krieger is growing again. Amanda Bronstad ContactAll Articles The National Law Journal

April 25, 2011

Best Best & Krieger's Eric Garner Photo: Jamie Rector

Apple Valley, a former mining town tucked away in California's high desert, boasts 306 days of sunshine each year and — despite its fruit-flavored name — almost no vegetation.

This being one of the driest regions in the country, water rights are highly prized and fiercely defended. So when a local foundation laid claim to Apple Valley's rights, the town went to court.

City officials had just hired Best Best & Krieger, a firm located 70 miles down Interstate 15 in Riverside, Calif., to handle their legal problems. In November 2010, the firm known locally as BB&K arrived at a settlement that helped Apple Valley keep control of its water. "It was really an amazing and complicated process," said Frank Robinson, Apple Valley's town manager. "BB&K has some of the best, in my opinion, water lawyers in the world working for them."

Protecting a town's water supply is a fairly typical assignment for Best Best & Krieger, a century-old firm that has carved a niche representing cities and other public agencies, mostly in Southern California. Its 30-plus government clients call on it for matters such as land use, natural resources and — not surprisingly, in this desert region — water rights.

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During the past year, the firm registered one of the highest growth rates, in percentage terms, among firms on the NLJ 250. Headcount was up by 13% — or 22 lawyers — compared to 2009. That was a sharp turnaround from 2009, when the firm shed 18 lawyers. Most of that increase came from a single acquisition of 19 lawyers from the now-defunct McDonough Holland & Allen who joined the firm's Sacramento office last year.

The 2009 decline went hand in hand with the recession, which severely hit the Inland Empire, a region that includes Riverside and additional satellite cities east of Los Angeles. Many public agencies reduced spending, and the firm was forced to lay off associates (it won't specify how many).

Then, in 2010, the firm got hit with a municipal client's scandal, one so potent that it attracted an investigation by The Los Angeles Times that just won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize. BB&K had served as city attorney for the city of Bell, a small Southern California city where officials were charged with corruption and illegally pocketing exorbitant salaries. Edward Lee, a partner who had served as Bell's city attorney, resigned from the firm following the revelations.

Managing partner Eric Garner said the firm has emerged from its struggles much improved. For one thing, its lawyers now advise municipal clients to reconsider cost-cutting measures that end up limiting the firm's effectiveness. "In the wake of Bell, we've had to make clear to our clients there is a certain level of involvement we have to have."

RIVERSIDE ROOTS Best Best & Krieger has deep roots in the region. Raymond Best founded the firm in downtown Riverside in 1891. His son, Eugene, became a partner in 1925. In 1946, James Krieger left O'Melveny & Myers to join the firm, which later became Best Best & Krieger. "When Jim Krieger joined in the late '40s, his vision was a firm that would provide top-quality service without having to go to a top city," Garner said.

From the beginning, Raymond and then Eugene Best represented the city of Riverside, but the municipal law practice didn't really blossom until the 1970s, Garner said. The biggest office remains in Riverside and there are outposts nearby in Ontario and Indian Wells. But the firm has expanded quickly in recent years outside the Inland Empire. Although Riverside is clearly home base, the firm has offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Walnut Creek (a San Francisco suburb), Irvine in Orange County and Sacramento. Acquisition of the McDonough group brought expertise in redevelopment work and additional municipal clients. It also helps the firm's lawyers keep up with what's going on in the cash-strapped state's capital, where Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed slashing money for local redevelopment agencies.

Garner hopes to expand outside California for the first time — although he wouldn't say which states or which firms are under consideration for acquisition. "It's fair to say it's firms that have expertise in federal law or expertise that crosses state boundaries," he said.

Many changes at the firm were forced by the recession and as public financing deals have dried up, Garner said. "People obviously are trying to be efficient with spending," he said. "At the same time, the way we've emerged stronger from that is we've become more efficient, as well."

The firm has adjusted its floor space so that there are smaller individual offices and larger common areas. Also, it encourages lawyers to conduct client affairs electronically or over the telephone. In 2009, it brought in a chief operating officer to help manage employee time records and make sure attorneys have the technology they require for client matters.

Best isn't short of work in other areas. One of its fastest growing practices involves environmental law and natural resources. The need for legal work associated with renewable energy has developed dramatically, Garner said. "Ten years ago, there were a few windmills on the path to Palm Springs. Now, solar and wind is huge," he said.

Other significant practice areas are public finance and litigation. More than one-third of the firm's lawyers are in the municipal and redevelopment practice representing cities, water districts and other public agencies in California towns such as Colton, Santee, Lake Forest and Avalon, a tiny port city on Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast.

In the water rights case in Apple Valley, a team of four lawyers led by John Brown, a partner in Ontario, helped officials draw up a settlement that gives the town rights to 710 acre-feet of the Mojave River basin. "He assembled a team of experts that just did an incredible job," Robinson said of Brown.

Most of the day-to-day municipal work involves attending council meetings, helping to prepare ordinances and resolutions, code enforcement, environmental regulations, real estate projects, labor issues, water rights and bond sales, Garner said. The firm typically secures annual contracts worth $100,000 to $1 million each, depending on the size of the city and whether litigation is involved, which tends to be more expensive. Sometimes, cities pay up-front retainers; other times, hourly rates.

An emerging area has been litigation over medical-marijuana ordinances. About a half-dozen lawyers have represented 18 cities and counties in California in bringing legal actions against dispensaries, accusing them of violating ordinances that limit the location and number of businesses allowed to provide medical marijuana. The dispensaries have fought back, arguing that the ordinances violate state law, which permits the use of medical marijuana.

THE BELL SCANDAL More controversial than medical marijuana has been the Bell scandal, which erupted when city official were discovered to be padding their salaries — the city manager, for example, was making more than $800,000 per year. Gov. Brown, then the state's attorney general, subpoenaed records from BB&K, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has charged eight current and former Bell officials with looting millions of dollars from city coffers.

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Lee, who has not been charged with a crime, resigned from the firm on Aug. 2. Bell officials fired BB&K, as did officials in nearby Downey, another client. At the time, Downey City Council member Mario Guerra told The National Law Journal that he was "embarrassed" to have his city associated with the scandal. The firm's lawyers should have known about "those outrageous salaries," he said. "I want more from my law firm and my city attorney. I expect red flags to come up." Garner maintained that the firm and Lee were in the dark about the situation in Bell. "There clearly were active efforts by individuals to conceal what they were doing from the public and, I think, from Mr. Lee," he said.

He noted that Downey was the only city beside Bell that fired the firm. "I think certainly a number of our clients asked all the questions we expected them to ask, and they were very satisfied with our answers," he said. "And they know the quality of services we provide and realized this was an anomalous situation."

For his part, Robinson, of Apple Valley, said the scandal hasn't been an issue. "We have no reason to believe that our lawyers representing us with BB&K are not of high integrity — and, certainly, they've demonstrated a real strength in leadership," he said. "They're not afraid to tell us when we're not going down the right path."

Lee, now a solo practitioner in San Dimas, Calif., said the situation in Bell was unique because the city manager controlled all the information. "So, quite clearly, there are things that were not posed of me and asked of me," he said. Lee said he resigned for the sake of the firm.

Garner said the firm has learned a valuable lesson.

"When economic times are difficult — and they are for all public agencies — they want to reduce all their costs, including legal fees," he said. "What we've told them is, 'We understand you need to control costs as much as possible, but we're more aware than ever now of the risks of attorneys not being in the loop. If we're going to legally protect you, we have to know what's going on.' "

Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com.

The New Blood The National Law Journal talks with eight firms that entered the NLJ 250 this year. What factors are driving their growth? Sheri Qualters ContactAll Articles The National Law Journal

April 25, 2011

# 189 MAYNARD, COOPER & GALE 212 lawyers Birmingham, Ala. Alabama firm Maynard, Cooper & Gale grew significantly last year, adding 11 first-year associates, plus 20 laterals divided among litigation and corporate practice groups. The firm is solid in several core business law areas and attracts more than half of its work from beyond the state's borders, said managing shareholder Mark Drew.

"We have a regional and national practice and have chosen to service that without opening multiple offices in other states," Drew said. "We've been very happy with that [approach] thus far."

The four-office firm's major service areas include banking and finance, corporate, bankruptcy, real estate and commercial litigation.

Last year, the firm's formal organization of a fund-formation and investment-management practice group solidified its Southeast leadership in that specialty.

Drew said key national clients include insurance giant American International Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. subsidiary Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.

#240 BUTLER, SNOW, O'MARA, STEVENS & CANNADA

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166 lawyers Ridgeland, Miss. Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada's pharmaceutical defense and commercial and products liability practice "is literally exploding," said Chairman Donald Clark Jr., who credits the firm's strategic growth — 10 new lawyers in 2010 — and embrace of alternative billing.

On the business law side, Butler Snow's health care compliance and regulatory work is on the upswing. The Ridgeland, Miss.-based firm, which has five Southeast offices and a Pennsylvania site, is also known for its tax practice and regional municipal bond work. "We're growing kind of across the board, but clearly our trial practice on a national level is well known to Corporate America," Clark said.

When the economy tanked three years ago, Butler Snow emphasized alternative fees, and now about 40% of the firm's business "is based on something other than the billable hour," Clark said.

Clark also said technology enables the firm to hire far-flung lawyers as remote employees instead of immediately investing in new offices.

#242 PLUNKETT COONEY 165 lawyers Detroit Detroit-based Plunkett Cooney has historically been known for commercial litigation work, but banking and finance has driven the full-service firm's headcount growth during the past few years.

The firm helps marquee financial services clients such as Bank of America Corp., Fifth Third Bancorp and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. resolve troubled commercial assets and loans from its Michigan, Indiana and Ohio offices.

The economy's tumble is behind some of the firm's banking and finance strength, acknowledged President and Chief Executive Officer Hank Cooney.

"The banks tried to foreclose on the loans or restructure the loans because the borrowers were not able to make their obligations," Cooney said. "We're coming out of that now."

The firm's net addition of 15 lawyers since the end of 2009 also boosts practices such as commercial litigation and insurance coverage, which serves clients including Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and The Travelers Indemnity Co.

#244 SEWARD & KISSEL 163 lawyers New York A steady flow of investment management work has kept New York-based Seward & Kissel on an even keel.

"I think our investment management practice has been pretty steady throughout the post-credit crisis period," said managing partner John Tavss.

The law firm, which also has a Washington outpost, does most of its investment management work in the so-called alternatives area, which includes hedge funds, arbitrage funds and distressed debt, Tavss said.

And about 20% of the firm's practice involves acting as a traditional asset manager for mutual funds, Tavss said.

Shipping industry clients count on the firm for capital markets and finance work.

For banks and other financial institutions, Seward & Kissel's work runs the gamut from commercial and employment litigation to structured finance work.

"Last year, there was a nice bounceback in corporate transactional work," Tavss said.

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#245 LEWIS, RICE & FINGERSH 162 lawyers St. Louis Managers at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh believe the firm's competitive rates for complex work are key to its growth.

The St. Louis-based firm is known for its toxic and mass tort litigation, particularly for AT&T Inc. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., said Chief Operating Officer Julie Lilly. Movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Inc. is a marquee real estate client.

"We do national work, sophisticated legal work, and we're here in the Midwest," Lilly said.

Other noted practices include banking, trusts and estate, health care, employment litigation and antitrust. Lewis Rice branched out into intellectual property in 1998, and now offers patent prosecution, trademark and patent litigation. Many lawyers specialize in multiple areas of law.

The firm's March 2010 move to a new headquarters building cut space from 110,000 to 100,000 square feet.

"We built it out in a way that's really efficient," Lilly said.

#247 SILLS CUMMIS & GROSS 161 lawyers Newark, N.J. Sills Cummis & Gross is known for its corporate, real estate, retail and products liability defense work, but health care work across several practice areas is generating a recent spurt of new business.

That means more transactional and litigation work — especially regulatory and government investigations — for the New Jersey-based firm, managing partner Max Crane said.

"There are more and more regulations that are sometimes at odds with government policies and sometimes at odds with the real business world," Crane said.

Founded in 1971, Sills Cummis has traditionally focused on pharmaceutical and medical device companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, for which it has done litigation work, but recently it has been attracting more hospital and home care company clients, Crane said.

"We probably match up pretty well with some of the firms that have national reputations in this area," Crane said.

#249 BROAD AND CASSEL 160 lawyers Orlando, Fla. Broad and Cassel's cultivation of a national health care practice to complement its commercial litigation base has kept it healthy during lean economic years.

The Florida firm added a dozen lawyers across its eight offices last year, said Chief Operating Officer Connie Smekens.

The firm has "always been known as a full-service commercial litigation firm" with expertise in several other areas such as real estate and estate planning, but it has been moving its resources into other areas of growth during the past few years, Smekens said.

In the health care practice, that's translated to representing hospitals and doctors in contract disputes, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement cases and compliance matters.

"We have been able to elevate our practice to a national practice on the regulatory side and also the fraud and abuse side," Smekens said. "Those are areas that are busy and will continue to be busy."

20

#250 HERRICK, FEINSTEIN 160 lawyers New York New York's Herrick, Feinstein is known locally as a real estate firm, but managing director George Wolf said litigation has always been its "biggest revenue generator."

The 160-lawyer firm, which also has two New Jersey offices, offers a wide range of commercial real estate services, including workouts and foreclosures.

On the corporate roster, the New York Yankees are one of the firm's largest clients, Wolf said.

But the recent success of the firm's art law practice in recovering paintings "has been one of the engines behind our growth," Wolf said. Last year, for example, the firm brokered a $19 million settlement with Vienna's Leopold Museum for its clients, the heirs of a Jewish art dealer who had to give up valuable artwork when she escaped from Nazi Europe in 1937.

"We started investing in that practice area in the late 1990s, and it's been a growing area since then," Wolf said.

Rank FiRm namePRinciPal oR

laRgest oFFice attoRneys1 Baker & McKenzie Chicago 3,738

2 DLA Piper Chicago 3,348

3 Jones Day Washington 2,502

4 Hogan Lovells Washington 2,363

5 Latham & Watkins New York 1,931

6 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom New York 1,859

7 White & Case New York 1,814

8 K&L Gates Pittsburgh 1,763

9 Greenberg Traurig New York 1,721

10 Mayer Brown Chicago 1,645

11 Sidley Austin Chicago 1,538

12 Reed Smith Pittsburgh 1,449

13 Kirkland & Ellis Chicago 1,379

14 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Philadelphia 1,239

15 Weil, Gotshal & Manges New York 1,152

16 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton New York 1,127

17 Dewey & LeBoeuf New York 1,045

18 Morrison & Foerster San Francisco 1,029

19 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Los Angeles 1,029

20 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe San Francisco 1,022

21 McDermott Will & Emery Chicago 970

22 Ropes & Gray Boston 928

23 Holland & Knight Washington 910

24 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker New York 910

25 Bryan Cave St. Louis 908

26 Bingham McCutchen Boston 901

27 Foley & Lardner Milwaukee 895

28 Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Washington 890

29 McGuireWoods Richmond, Va. 886

30 O'Melveny & Myers Los Angeles 884

31 Winston & Strawn Chicago 868

32 Hunton & Williams Richmond, Va. 855

33 Fulbright & Jaworski Houston 843

34 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett New York 810

35 Shearman & Sterling New York 796

36 Alston & Bird Atlanta 794

37 King & Spalding Atlanta 793

38 Squire, Sanders & Dempsey Cleveland 785

39 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Washington 784

40 Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith Los Angeles 781

41 Dechert Philadelphia 756

42 Littler Mendelson San Francisco 755

43 Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker New York 754

44 Sullivan & Cromwell New York 749

45 Davis Polk & Wardwell New York 742

46 Goodwin Procter Boston 741

47 Vinson & Elkins Houston 714

48 Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison New York 709

49 Baker Botts Houston 703

50 Seyfarth Shaw Chicago 702

51 Covington & Burling Washington 698

52 Perkins Coie Seattle 693

53 Debevoise & Plimpton New York 674

54 Proskauer Rose New York 663

55 Arnold & Porter Washington 650

56 Nixon Peabody Boston 650

57 Baker Hostetler Cleveland 645

58 Duane Morris Philadelphia 629

59 Willkie Farr & Gallagher New York 624

60 Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman New York 621

61 Troutman Sanders Atlanta 615

62 Jackson Lewis White Plains, N.Y. 614

63 Cooley Palo Alto, Calif. 604

64 Drinker Biddle & Reath Philadelphia 602

65 Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal Chicago 600

66 Katten Muchin Rosenman Chicago 597

67 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Palo Alto, Calif. 588

68 Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy New York 574

69 Howrey Washington 572

70 Dorsey & Whitney Minneapolis 567

71 Husch Blackwell St. Louis 551

72 Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell Dallas 545

73 Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz Memphis, Tenn. 527

74 Patton Boggs Washington 512

75 Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Boston 507

76 Cozen O'Connor Philadelphia 504

77 Venable Washington 496

78 Cravath, Swaine & Moore New York 495

79 Shook, Hardy & Bacon Kansas City, Mo. 493

80 Haynes and Boone Dallas 492

81 Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson New York 485

82 Davis Wright Tremaine Seattle 484

83 Blank Rome Philadelphia 481

84 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft New York 481

85 Hinshaw & Culbertson Chicago 475

86 Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart Greenville, S.C. 474

87 Polsinelli Shughart Kansas City, Mo. 466

88 Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton Los Angeles 465

89 Pepper Hamilton Philadelphia 459

90 Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Los Angeles 457

91 Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice Winston-Salem, N.C. 454

92 Barnes & Thornburg Indianapolis 450

93 Fox Rothschild Philadelphia 450

94 Ballard Spahr Philadelphia 446

95 Faegre & Benson Minneapolis 446

96 Akerman Senterfitt Miami 443

97 Crowell & Moring Washington 441

98 Bracewell & Giuliani Houston 440

99 Jenner & Block Chicago 438

100 Kaye Scholer New York 425

101 McKenna Long & Aldridge Atlanta 425

102 Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin Philadelphia 424

103 Kilpatrick Stockton Atlanta 424

104 Quarles & Brady Milwaukee 412

105 Snell & Wilmer Phoenix 410

106 Steptoe & Johnson LLP Washington 408

107 Dinsmore & Shohl Cincinnati 407

108 Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pittsburgh 406

109 Schulte Roth & Zabel New York 406

110 Frost Brown Todd Cincinnati 401

111 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo Boston 400

112 Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Columbia, S.C. 399

113 Chadbourne & Parke New York 398

114 Kutak Rock Omaha, Neb. 395

115 Holland & Hart Denver 389

116 Sutherland Asbill & Brennan Atlanta 381

117 McCarter & English Newark, N.J. 381

118 Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner Washington 377

119 Stoel Rives Portland, Ore. 373

120 Gordon & Rees San Francisco 372

121 Thompson Hine Cleveland 364

122 Fish & Richardson Boston 356

123 Andrews Kurth Houston 355

124 Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease Columbus, Ohio 350

125 Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold San Francisco 345

Rank FiRm namePRinciPal oR

laRgest oFFice attoRneys126 Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Birmingham, Ala. 338

127 Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman New York 338

128 Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone Detroit 335

129 Dickstein Shapiro Washington 335

130 Dykema Gossett Detroit 333

131 Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott Pittsburgh 333

132 Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel New York 326

133 Thompson Coburn St. Louis 325

134 Day Pitney Parsippany, N.J. 324

135 Arent Fox Washington 323

136 Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Los Angeles 322

137 Kelley Drye & Warren New York 321

138 Thompson & Knight Dallas 319

139 Jackson Walker Dallas 317

140 LeClairRyan Richmond, Va. 314

141 Schiff Hardin Chicago 310

142 Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre New Orleans 300

143 Epstein Becker & Green New York 300

144 Hughes Hubbard & Reed New York 300

145 Loeb & Loeb New York 294

146 Stroock & Stroock & Lavan New York 292

147 Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy New York 283

148 Stinson Morrison Hecker Kansas City, Mo. 283

149 Moore & Van Allen Charlotte, N.C. 281

150 Lathrop & Gage Kansas City, Mo. 281

151 Phelps Dunbar New Orleans 280

152 Baker & Daniels Indianapolis 279

153 Williams Mullen Richmond, Va. 277

154 Taft, Stettinius & Hollister Cincinnati 275

155 Cahill Gordon & Reindel New York 273

156 McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter Morristown, N.J. 272

157 Wiley Rein Washington 270

158 Carlton Fields Tampa, Fla. 270

159 Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear Irvine, Calif. 268

160 Winstead Dallas 265

161 Gardere Wynne Sewell Dallas 265

162 Adams and Reese New Orleans 264

163 Williams & Connolly Washington 255

164 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz New York 253

165 Lowenstein Sandler Roseland, N.J. 249

166 Vedder Price Chicago 246

167 GrayRobinson Orlando, Fla. 245

168 Balch & Bingham Birmingham, Ala. 245

169 Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle New York 244

170 Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Minneapolis 244

171 Stites & Harbison Louisville, Ky. 242

172 Boies, Schiller & Flexner New York 241

173 Fenwick & West Mountain View, Calif. 241

174 Porter Wright Morris & Arthur Columbus, Ohio 237

175 Fredrikson & Byron Minneapolis 231

176 Armstrong Teasdale St. Louis 230

177 Dickinson Wright Detroit 229

178 Ice Miller Indianapolis 228

179 Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein Charlotte N.C. 227

180 Burr & Forman Birmingham, Ala. 226

181 Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn Detroit 222

182 Warner Norcross & Judd Grand Rapids, Mich. 221

183 Robinson & Cole Hartford, Conn. 221

184 Saul Ewing Philadelphia 220

185 Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Denver 218

186 Fisher & Phillips Atlanta 217

187 Miles & Stockbridge Baltimore 216

188 White and Williams Philadelphia 216

189 Maynard, Cooper & Gale Birmingham, Ala. 212

190 Foley Hoag Boston 211

191 Roetzel & Andress Akron, Ohio 210

192 Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick Toledo, Ohio 208

193 Michael Best & Friedrich Milwaukee 208

194 Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis Los Angeles 207

195 Chapman and Cutler Chicago 205

196 Yoss Miami 205

197 Steptoe & Johnson PLLC Bridgeport, W.Va. 203

198 Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren Milwaukee 202

199 Clark Hill Detroit 202

200 Bond, Schoeneck & King Syracuse, N.Y. 201

201 Hodgson Russ Buffalo, N.Y. 199

202 Gibbons Newark, N.J. 223

203 Shutts & Bowen Miami 197

204 Bass, Berry & Sims Nashville, Tenn. 197

205 Best Best & Krieger Riverside, Calif. 195

206 Holme Roberts & Owen Denver 192

207 Lewis and Roca Phoenix 188

208 Sherman & Howard Denver 187

209 Lindquist & Vennum Minneapolis 185

210 Briggs and Morgan Minneapolis 185

211 Brown Rudnick Boston 184

212 Irell & Manella Los Angeles 184

213 Miller & Martin Chattanooga, Tenn. 184

214 Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs Louisville, Ky. 181

215 Strasburger & Price Dallas 181

216 Munger, Tolles & Olson Los Angeles 181

217 Lane Powell Seattle 180

218 Ulmer & Berne Cleveland 179

219 Leonard, Street and Deinard Minneapolis 178

220 Nexsen Pruet Columbia, S.C. 178

221 Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler New York 178

222 Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis Nashville, Tenn. 177

223 Butzel Long Detroit 176

224 Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young Philadelphia 176

225 Harris Beach Rochester, N.Y. 176

226 Archer & Greiner Haddonfield, N.J. 175

227 Townsend and Townsend and Crew San Francisco 175

228 Hiscock & Barclay Syracuse, N.Y. 174

229 Phillips Lytle Buffalo, N.Y. 174

230 Smith Moore Leatherwood Greensboro, N.C. 173

231 Ford & Harrison Atlanta 173

232 Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis Philadelphia 173

233 Fennemore Craig Phoenix 173

234 Godfrey & Kahn Milwaukee 170

235 Smith, Gambrell & Russell Atlanta 170

236 Jackson Kelly Charleston, W.Va. 170

237 Clausen Miller Chicago 169

238 Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto New York 168

239 Stevens & Lee Reading, Pa. 167

240 Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada Ridgeland, Miss. 166

241 Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale St. Louis 166

242 Plunkett Cooney Detroit 165

243 Kenyon & Kenyon New York 163

244 Seward & Kissel New York 163

245 Lewis, Rice & Fingersh St. Louis 162

246 McGlinchey Stafford New Orleans 162

247 Sills Cummis & Gross Newark, N.J. 161

248 Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon Chicago 160

249 Broad and Cassel Orlando, Fla. 160

250 Herrick, Feinstein New York 160

ANNUAL SURVEY OF THE NATION’S LARGEST LAW FIRMS