A spurt of merger and acquisition activity saw earnings at the global top firms rise with firms such as Simpson Thacher & Bartlett the fastest growing of the bunch. According to the American Lawyer, it grew 15 per cent in revenue with deals valued at nearly $300 billion, including Vodafone’s $130 billion sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications.Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which opened four non-U.S. offices last year, was close behind at 14.1 per cent growth. On the other hand, firms with large restructuring and bankruptcy practices suffered, including Bingham McCutchen, whose revenue dropped 12.6 per cent, and Weil Gotshal & Manges, down 7.4 per cent.

Post-recession recovery

Meanwhile, the world's 100 largest law firms continued their post-recession recovery last year, with aggregate revenue growing 4.3 per cent to $88.7 billion and average profit per equity partner up 5.4 per cent to $1.6 million, although average revenue per lawyer only gained 0.4 per cent to $787,000. The group employed over 112,000 lawyers, a 3.9 per cent increase, and 22,000 equity partners, 3.4 per cent above the prior year, according to the annual Global 100 survey published in the October issue and online at www.americanlawyer.com.

Mergers

Baker & McKenzie regained the top spot from DLA Piper with $2.54 billion revenue, a five per cent jump from last year. DLA was up 1.7 per cent to $2.48 billion. The two firms have jockeyed for Global 100 leadership for several years. Major mergers continued to fuel consolidation, with 30 megafirms now showing revenues of over $1 billion compared to 16 in 2009. Norton Rose broke into the top 10 for the first time, thanks to its combination with Fulbright & Jaworski to create Norton Rose Fulbright. SNR Denton moved into the top 20 following a three-way tie-up with French firm Salans and Canada's Fraser Milner Casgrain to form Dentons. Sino-Australian firm King & Wood Mallesons entered the top 30 after combining with SJ Berwin. London-based Ashurst rose 36 places in the rankings due to its merger with Australian firm Blake Dawson.

New entrants

Breaking into the Global 100 for the first time were Hughes Hubbard & Reed; Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy; and Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Returning after a one-year absence were Schulte Roth & Zabel and Berwin Leighton Paisner. Leaving the list, aside from merged firms, were Fish & Richardson, Kaye Scholer, and Jenner & Block. Source: New York Times