Lawyer Pay
Wachtell Partners Make By Far the Most: $4.48M, on Average
Posted Mar 24, 2008, 11:43 am CST
By Martha Neil
Updated: Despite all the hoopla over megafirms' megaprofits in 2007, the three law firms that for the first time topped $2 billion in gross revenue weren't where the real money was being made.
Once again, profits per equity partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz were breathtaking—$4.48 million. The just-over-200-lawyer Manhattan corporate boutique's nearest competitor, Cravath Swaine & Moore, weighed in with a mere $3.3 million average profit per equity partner, reports Portfolio. The magazine is recapping figures compiled by the Lawyer (charts for prior years listed here), a United Kingdom legal publication that has recently begun covering U.S. law firms more closely.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, DLA Piper; Skadden, Arps Slate, Meagher & Flom ; and Latham & Watkins all hit the $2 billion mark for the first time last year, booking, Portfolio recounts, $2.3 billion, $2.002 billion and $2 billion in gross revenue, respectively.
In addition to outstanding profit per equity partner, Wachtell is also known for "legendary" associate bonuses that have come close to equaling salaries in recent years, notes the DealBook blog of the New York Times.
Updated at 2:35 p.m., central time, March 25, 2008, to include link to more recent Lawyer coverage.
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