Still, you can`t feel too bad for the average partner of a second hundred companies: making nearly $1 million a year isn`t too shabby. And as you can see in the earnings by partner ranking at the end of this article, partners from renowned companies like Boies Schiller Flexner, Irell & Manella, Munger Tolles & Olson, Susman Godfrey, and Williams & Connolly have made millions, in the plural. Meet the latest firms at Am Law 200 – and get a glimpse of each other`s performance in the Second Hundred in 2020. Of course, these numbers only tell part of the 2020 story for the Am 200 law. Last year also saw the return of the growing separation between the Am 100 law and the second hundhundred and the introduction of the first virtual company into the Am 200 law. In this year`s report, we outline last year`s key trends and what they will mean for the future of the industry, including the proliferation of Paycheque Protection Program loans throughout the second hundred, the growing importance of alternative fee arrangements, and the attractive option of virtual expansion for mid-sized businesses. Last spring`s warnings were grim. When the pandemic hit, many law firms were expecting double-digit sales declines by the end of the year, and everyone could guess how the year would evolve. Anyone who made predictions at the time would be surprised to flip through the final numbers and realize that the second hundred of the Am 200 law was an almost positive year in terms of sales with a 1.1% increase and a significant year with significant growth in revenue per lawyer (plus 3%) and profits per partner (up 8.8%).
It is the PPEP. Now let`s talk about the PPP – no, not the old PPEP nickname (formerly known as “Profits per Partner”), but the federal government`s paycheck protection program. According to the U.S. attorney, 44 of the hundred companies took out repayable loans from the federal government, compared to zero companies in Am 100 (many of which were out of the question as companies with more than 500 employees). As Dan Packel explains, according to Am Law`s methodology, the money from these loans was not included in the company`s revenue, but it could be reflected in the net profit figures if the money was eventually channeled to Partner-Comp. But what about the companies that the U.S. attorney calls the “Second Hundred,” the companies that rank from 101 to 200th in terms of total revenue? Overall, not only do these companies have lower revenues than the Am Law 100, but they also tend to be smaller, less profitable, and less prestigious. [1] Was 2020 as friendly with them as it was with their higher-ranking colleagues? The Am Law 200, a ranking of the 200 most profitable law firms in the United States, is reported by journalists and researchers at ALM Business of Law. The list is published every year with a first part, the Am 100 law, followed by the “second hundred”, which are composed of companies in places 101-200. Ranked No. 137 on Law`s annual 360,400 ranking of the country`s 400 largest law firms for 2021 Many renowned litigators here, including Irell, Kobre & Kim, Munger Tolles, Boies Schiller and Patterson Belknap. But the focus on litigation could also explain why the Second Hundred didn`t do as well as The Am 100 Act as a whole.
The practice of transactions had a much better year in 2020 than litigation, which suffered from prolonged courthouse closures and the cancellation or postponement of lucrative lawsuits – as the Am Law 100 firms focus more on settlement work than the Second Hundred, they had a better year last year. Cf. Moms, don`t let your babies become litigators. The already large gap between Am Law 100 and Second Hundred has only widened over the past year, as Am Law 100 firms have developed these three key indicators much faster than their Second Hundred competitors. These differences are the reason why Brad Hildebrandt, founder of the legal consulting firm Hildebrandt Inc., said that comparing Bill 100 to the second hundred is the proverbial apple-to-pear comparison. Finally, let`s take a look at the 10 Second Hundred firms with the highest earnings per partner: The American Lawyer just released its Am Law 200 ranking and accompanying report, and the overall answer is that Second Hundred firms. Ok. They didn`t kill it like the Am Law 100 companies, but they were also doing pretty well given the global pandemic and economic downturn that was looming over the past year.
They did better than many of their customers, and they did better than many of us (and them) expected when the pandemic hit, when many companies began to implement austerity measures left and right. Here`s how the Second Hundred performed as a group: Last year was incredible for the Am Law 100, the 100 largest law firms in the country, ranked by revenue, as we learned in the spring when the latest ranking came out. For firms that are a notch below the Am Law 100 — firms ranked No. 101 to No. 200 in terms of total revenue, a group the U.S. attorney calls the “Second Hundred” — last year was also excellent, but not as large as for the top 100 firms.