This shrinking law firm tops 'A-List'; is it a 'one-horse firm'?
Irell & Manella had just 112 practicing lawyers as of mid-July, down from a high of 221 lawyers in 2003. Its revenue dropped 19 percent last year and its profits per partner—at a more than respectable $3.2 million—nonetheless dropped 12 percent.
But the firm has been named No. 1 on the American Lawyer’s “2016 A-List” (sub. req.), which is based on revenue per lawyer rankings, pro bono hours, diversity and associate satisfaction.
Irell & Manella’s A-List ranking was No. 18 last year. Its rise to the top was due to a large leap in its associate satisfaction and pro bono scores, the American Lawyer reports.
“Irell is an exceptional firm,” the American Lawyer article says. “It has the fewest lawyers of any firm in The Am Law 200 and still is one of the most profitable. (It sits in 145th place on The Am Law 200 by revenue.) At the same time it faces a pressing issue: The firm is defined and dominated by its most accomplished and celebrated partner, Morgan Chu, who late last year reached the firm’s mandatory retirement age of 65. (The firm gave him an exemption to remain an equity partner.)”
Partner David Siegel, a member of the firm’s executive committee, isn’t worried about the future. “We hear what competitors say: ‘They have too many eggs in one basket.’ ‘They’re a one-horse firm.’ ‘Where will they be in five to 10 years?’ ” he tells the American Lawyer. He acknowledges that intellectual-property lawyer Chu is “an outsized producer,” but he says the firm is strong in other areas, such as its life sciences, entertainment and media practices.
“We look around and say, ‘Where will the business come from?’ The answer is, we already see it. The roots are there and some of the roots are already pretty big.”
The top five A-List law firms in 2016, according to the American Lawyer, are:
1) Irell & Manella
2) Munger, Tolles & Olson
3) Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
4) Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Paul Hastings (in a tie)
