A law firm, like any company, is a business entity that provides legal services to its clients, from individuals to corporations and even governments. Law firms can vary in size from sole practitioners to large multinational law firms.
Smaller or mid-sized law firms usually specialize in a particular field of law (such as tax, intellectual property, international arbitration, or class action lawsuits). They are often called boutique law firms.
On the other hand, the largest law firms are often “full service” with multiple specializations. Below is our list of the best law firms in the world.
Ranking Methodology
To compile the list of the world’s best law firms, I have considered several important factors, including gross annual revenue, the number of attorneys employed, and profits per partner.
Profits per partner (or profits per equity partner, PPEP) is a simple way to understand how much money each partner in a law firm earns. It is calculated by dividing the firm’s total profits (after paying salaries) by the number of equity partners. This gives a rough idea of how much each partner takes home.
In most law firms (especially large ones), profits are not shared equally. Senior partners usually get a bigger share, while newer partners receive a smaller portion.
I have also considered qualitative factors, such as how these firms rank in well-known legal magazines, reports, studies, and the awards or recognitions they have received from respected global institutions. Below are the official publications included in this list.
- AM LAW 100/200, AM LAW ‘A List’ – The American Lawyer, a monthly legal magazine, publishes annual rankings and surveys of law firms. AM LAW 100 ranks the largest US-based law firms by revenue, profits, and PPEP. ‘A-list refers to the most elite law firms recognized by the magazine.
- Benchmark Litigation (US) is a peer-reviewed publication that ranks the best litigation firms in different practice fields (commercial, bankruptcy, antitrust, etc.) For this list, we have used its U.S. rankings.
- Chamber and Partners – It is a UK-based research company that ranks lawyers and legal departments of some of the largest law firms worldwide.
- Vault Law 100 – Published by Firsthand, a service for career-related matters, Vault Law 100 assesses and ranks the most prestigious law firms based on professionals working in the industry.
- International Financial Law Review (IFLR) provides in-depth analysis and expert opinion on law firms around the world engaged in the financial industry.
Table of Contents
11. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Revenue: $1.7 billion
Number of attorneys: 1,200+
PPEP: $4.5 million
Cleary Gottlieb is your typical white-shoe law firm, with a presence on every major continent and a long-standing reputation as one of the best in the business. The firm was established in 1946 by a group of attorneys who left their previous firm to establish one of their own.
A few years later, Cleary Gottlieb opened its first international office in Europe (Paris), one of the first U.S.-based law firms to do so. It was also among the first few law firms to open an office in Japan after non-Japanese lawyers were allowed to practice there.
However, Cleary Gottlieb disbanded their Tokyo office in 2006. Today, the firm operates from about 17 offices worldwide and is headquartered at One Liberty Plaza in New York City.
In the last two decades or so, Cleary Gottlieb has taken part in several high-profile sovereign debt and restructuring cases and has emerged as a go-to legal firm for similar cases. It advised the government of Argentina on the restructuring of its $81.8 billion debt in 2005. Then again, in 2020, it helped Argentina to successfully reach a $65 billion debt restructuring agreement with its largest creditors.
Some of the corporate clients it served are Google during its acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2012 and T-Mobile U.S. during its merger with Sprint Corporation in 2018.
Rankings: Vault Law 100 ranks Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as the #14 best and most prestigious law firm in the United States. Benchmark Litigation ranks it as a tier 1 firm in handling bankruptcy, commercial, antitrust, international arbitration, and finance-related crime (white-collar) litigation.
It has been awarded “Americas Law Firm of the Year” by the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Americas almost every year since 2015.
Moreover, for its advisory role in Euronext’s acquisition of Borsa Italiana (the Italian stock exchange), Cleary Gottlieb was awarded Corporate Team of the Year in the U.K. at the Legal Business Awards 2021.
10. Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance Headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, U.K | Image Courtesy: Wikipedia Commons
Revenue: $2.83 billion
Number of attorneys: 3,300
PPEP: $2.6 million
Clifford Chance is the largest law firm (by revenue) in Europe and the United Kingdom. It is a member of the “Magic Circle,” an informal group of London-based law firms that are larger and more profitable than any other law firm based in the United Kingdom. The other members of the group are Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May.
The firm, as we know it today, is a result of multiple mergers in the past. The first merger took place in 1987 between two mid-sized London-based practices: Clifford-Turner and Coward Chance. This merger played a pivotal role in the firm’s rise as a legal powerhouse in the U.K.
Then, in 1999, to expand internationally, Clifford Chance acquired the U.S.-based firm Roger & Wells and the Germany-based firm Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster.
Today, Clifford Chance has more than 30 offices worldwide and an extensive presence in Northeast Asia, with offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing.
It is undoubtedly one of the world’s most reputed law firms in the financial sector, with a portfolio of clients from corporations to government offices and not-for-profit organizations. According to Acuris, a financial news and data provider, it is one of the most sought-after law firms by private equity clients for M&A in Europe.
Rankings: Clifford Chance is awarded the law firm of the year for Germany, France, and Poland by the 2021 edition of Chambers Europe. The firm has won multiple industry-specific awards, including Airline Economics Aviation 100 Law Firm of the Year 2021. It also received awards in 13 different categories from the prestigious IFLR Europe.
9. Baker McKenzie
Revenue: $3.4 billion
Number of attorneys: 3,500+
PPEP: $2.1 million
Former attorneys: Christine Lagarde (former M.D. of the IMF and current President of the European Central Bank)
Baker McKenzie is a Chicago, Illinois-based multinational law firm that specializes in corporate law. The firm provides legal services primarily to companies and corporations in M&A, restructuring, bankruptcy, general corporate disputes, intellectual property, securities, and antitrust litigation.
Though the firm, in its current structure, was launched in 1949, focusing on litigation, its origin can be traced back to 1925, when Russell Baker established Baker & Simpson after graduating from the Chicago Law School.
Baker McKenzie is the largest law firm in the United States by the total number of attorneys (headcount) and the fourth-largest by total revenue (2019). It currently has about 4,700 lawyers in 46 countries and 77 offices worldwide.
In 2006, the British consumer goods giant Unilever appointed Baker McKenzie to handle its entire trademark portfolio, which was believed to be the world’s largest at the time, with more than 160,000 registrations.
In 2009, the firm represented Symantec Corporation (now NortonLifeLock) against the IRS and won a $1 billion tax lawsuit in the U.S. The firm is currently representing Facebook in a similar lawsuit.
Rankings – In 2021, for the 11th consecutive year, Thomson Reuters’ Acritas Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index placed Baker McKenzie as the highest-ranking law firm in the world above DLA Piper and Clifford Chance. In the 2024 Global 200 survey, Baker McKenzie secured the position of the 4th-highest-grossing law firm worldwide.
8. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher office in Washington, D.C.
Revenue: $3.6 billion
Number of attorneys: 2,100+
PPEP: $7.2 million
Former attorney/associate: Preet Bharara (former U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York); James C. Ho (U.S. Court of Appeals circuit judge).
Gibson Dunn is an American multinational law firm renowned for its appellate litigation practice. Over the past years, the firm has represented multiple large corporations in widely reported lawsuits and court cases. They have earned the reputation of a “corporate rescue” specialist.
Some of these are Apple v. Samsung, in which the firm represented Apple in a patent infringement suit related to Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. In 2008, it defended Intel against billion-dollar lawsuits brought by AMD in the European Union.
Gibson Dunn was founded in 1890 in Los Angeles by two corporate lawyers, John Bicknell and Walter Trask. They were joined by James Gibson, a former judge, in 1897. A few years later, the firm merged with another Los Angeles-based practice headed by William Dunn and Albert Crutcher to become one of California’s largest law firms in the early 1900s.
Some of the high-profile clients that Gibson Dunn has represented in the past are Apple, Inc, Chevron, NBC Universal, and Mark Zuckerberg. The firm also advises corporations during M&A deals. It advised Kraft Foods’ $19 billion acquisition of Cadbury in 2010 and Hewlett-Packard’s $11.7 billion acquisition of Autonomy Corp. a year later in 2011.
Rankings – The 2023 edition of Legal 500 (U.S.) ranks Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a Tier 1 law firm in antitrust, commercial disputes, international disputes, and real estate litigation. Gibson Dunn tops the Benchmark Litigation rankings for the best appellate and labor/employment litigation law firm.
7. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
The #DOJ‘s National Security Division issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to regulate, restrict, and in some cases prohibit the sharing of U.S.-person data with “countries of concern”—China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. Read the memo: https://t.co/UQe8PnAbzI pic.twitter.com/iQlNEMynC6
— Paul, Weiss LLP (@PaulWeissLLP) November 18, 2024
Revenue: $2.6 billion
Number of attorneys: 1,000+
PPEP: $7.5 million
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, or simply Paul, Weiss, is one of the most respected and profitable law firms in the United States, engaging primarily in corporate law. The firm operates from over nine offices around the world, including its headquarters in New York City.
The firm’s roots date back to 1875 when Samuel William Weiss and Julius Frank established a small law firm specializing in commercial law. Continuing his father’s legacy, Samuel’s son, Louis Weiss, partnered with John Wharton to open their own practice. In the late 1920s, the two firms merged, eventually bringing in additional partners and evolving into the firm’s current name.
The firm focuses on both deal-making (transactions) and court cases (litigation) in areas like corporate, tax, employment, and environmental law. Over time, Paul Weiss has worked with many of the biggest companies in the U.S., including those in tobacco, oil, banking, and insurance. Its current clients include Citigroup and the NFL.
The firm has also represented well-known individuals, including Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Pierre DuPont, and Marilyn Monroe.
Paul, Weiss has a commendable pro bono culture. Vault Law ranks the firm 22nd on its list of best law firms for pro bono. In 2018, the firm led a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s controversial family separation policy. It helped find more than 400 deported parents.
Rankings: Benchmark Litigation ranks Paul, Weiss as a tier 1 litigation firm in appellate, bankruptcy, antitrust, commercial, intellectual property, labor, securities, and white-collar criminal law. It is also among the 20 best trial law firms, according to the publication.
Paul Weiss has been recognized by the New York Law Journal and National Law Journal as a leading law firm in the country. It is ranked 9th in the Vault Law 100 list of best and most prestigious law firms globally. The firm was shortlisted for Chambers and Partners’ “USA Private Client Team of the Year” in 2021 and placed third in the American Lawyer’s “A-list.”
6. Davis Polk & Wardwell
Revenue: $2.5 billion
Number of attorneys: 1,100+
PPEP: $7.8 million
Former attorneys/partners: Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th U.S. President); Jerome Powell (Chair of the Federal Reserve)
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, or simply Davis Polk, is considered one of the best law firms in the financial sector, specializing in capital markets, M&A, regulatory matters, and investment management. The firm was established in 1849 by a prominent New York attorney, Francis N. Bangs, who was also a founding member of the New York Bar Association.
The firm changed its name several times after its formation. In 1952, the firm represented the steel companies in the United States in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that led to a decision limiting the power of the sitting U.S. President to seize private property. It was not until 1967 that the firm adopted its current name after its three most influential name partners, John W. Davis, Frank Polk, and Allen Wardwell.
Davis Polk has a long-standing history of serving high-profile clients, including John P. Morgan, who hired them to represent several of his companies, including General Electric. Many of the successor companies of J.P Morgan’s business empire are active clients of the firm.
In 2000, the firm advised J.P Morgan & Co. during its mega-merger with Chase Manhattan Bank. David Polk played a critical role in the early interpretation and implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act following the 2008 financial crisis. The firm is headquartered in New York and has nine other offices worldwide.
Rankings: In 2023, Davis Polk was ranked 8th based on the profits per equity partner (PPEP). The National Law Journal’s 2024 NLJ 500 ranked it 34th in the US by size.
5. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Image Courtesy: Ryland West/ALM
Revenue: $3.7 billion
Number of attorneys: 1,700+
PPEP: $6 million
Skadden, Arps Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates is a relatively new law firm established in 1948 by three of its name partners – Marshall Skadden, Les Arps, and John Slate in New York.
Despite tough competition from more established law firms in its early days, Skadden emerged as a powerhouse in the legal world in the 1980s, becoming one of the largest law firms in the US.
In 1988, the firm started the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, which supports law graduates who want to work in public interest law and help poor and homeless people. So far, the program has supported more than 900 law graduates.
In 2015, Skadden was named the most innovative law firm in North America by Financial Times’ ‘Innovative Lawyers’ report. In the same year, it became the first international law firm to handle more than $1 trillion in merger and acquisition deals.
Rankings: In 2016, Skadden was the fourth-largest law firm by revenue. However, it slipped two ranks to 6th in 2019. In terms of profits per equity partner (PPEP), Skadden ranks 14th among the U.S.-based law firms in 2021, below the likes of Cravath, Latham & Watkins, and Paul Weiss. In 2024, Am Law 200 ranked the firm 5th in the U.S., while NLJ 500 placed it 16th.
4. Latham & Watkins
Shing Lo and Gabriel Lakeman discuss how #insurtech #startups should navigate the nuances of an FCA authorization to balance compliance with company culture in this episode of #ConnectedWithLatham. #insurance #fintech
Apple https://t.co/HzqrJm45Qp
Spotify https://t.co/8oGyJx13p8 pic.twitter.com/zGFNsgs2rn— Latham & Watkins LLP (@lathamwatkins) September 22, 2023
Revenue: $7 billion
Number of attorneys: 3,500+
PPEP: $7.1 million
Back in 2007, Los Angeles-based Latham & Watkins LLP became the first U.S.-based law firm to report a $2 billion revenue. Then, in 2017, it became the world’s first law firm to achieve a gross revenue of more than $3 billion. Latham & Watkins was established in 1934 by Dana Latham, who served as IRS commissioner under President Dwight Eisenhower and Paul Watkins.
During its initial years, the firm focused primarily on tax litigation and labor cases. However, it expanded into other areas such as mergers, banking, and general corporate practice in the 1990s.
The firm has a physical presence across four continents (excluding South America) and 28 offices worldwide, with its largest in New York.
Latham & Watkins is perhaps one of the most controversial law firms of considerable size. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the firm sacked more than 250 staff and paralegals, and about 190 attorneys, in less than a year. Due to the severity of the layoffs, the firm garnered a lot of negative press coverage.
According to Law Students for Climate Accountability, a group that reports on law firms representing the fossil fuels industry, Watkins is the only law firm among the top 4 in both litigation and transactional work that aggravates climate change.
Rankings: Latham & Watkins has consistently been recognized for its excellence in the legal industry. The firm has been named to The American Lawyer’s prestigious A-List for 22 consecutive years, since the list’s inception in 2003, making it one of only two firms to achieve this distinction.
In the 2024 Am Law 200 ranking, Latham & Watkins secured 2nd place, showing its strong financial performance. The firm was also ranked 2nd in the 2024 Global 200 survey, highlighting its position as one of the highest-grossing law firms in the world.
3. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Revenue: $1.2 billion
Number of attorneys: 280+
PPEP: $9 million
Unlike other large law firms on this list that have expanded internationally with at least a few offices outside the U.S., Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz operates from just one office in New York City that it shares with CBS and a few other tenants. Despite that, it is regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious and impactful law firms.
It was founded in 1965 by a small group of lawyers who met at NYU School of Law and gradually rose to prominence despite the presence of more established law firms nearby at that time. Wachtell is widely known for its corporate law practice and handles complex mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructuring, strategic investments, general transactions, and securities litigation.
In 1982, Martin Lipton, one of the firm’s name partners, devised a tactic for companies to effectively defend against hostile takeover bids. The tactic, popularly known as the “poison pill,” was widely used throughout the remainder of the 20th century. During the 2008 financial crisis, Wachtell advised the US Department of the Treasury on the federal bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is one of the smallest firms among the top 100, with only about 280 lawyers, yet it generates over $1.2 billion in annual revenue. Despite its small size, it has the highest profits per equity partner (PPEP) in the world.
Known for its elite reputation, it is also considered one of the hardest law firms to get into in the US.
Rankings: For more than ten consecutive years, Vault Law has ranked the firm #1 on its merger and acquisitions rankings. The 2021 edition of Benchmark Litigation ranks Wachtell as a tier 1 firm in commercial, bankruptcy, and securities litigation. Similarly, the U.S. News Law Firm rankings grade it as a tier 1 firm in M&A, commercial, banking, and regulatory litigation.
2. Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Revenue: $1.2 billion
Number of attorneys: 530+
PPEP:$6.85 million
Notable cases: Miranda v. Arizona in 1966; Epic Games v. Apple in 2020
Cravath, officially known as Cravath, Swaine & Moore, is one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. Its origin can be traced back to 1819, when Richard Blatchford, a banking lawyer, established his own office in New York. The main turning point in the firm’s history came in 1899 when a prominent Manhattan-based attorney, Paul Drennan Cravath, joined in as a partner.
Soon after his arrival, Paul Cravath implemented several new management principles that would govern future hiring, training, compensation (salary), and tenure for the firm’s staff. These principles are collectively known today as the ‘Cravath System,’ which is used by nearly all large law and accounting firms.
Throughout its history, Cravath has represented some of the biggest companies in the U.S. It successfully defended IBM against two (in the 1950s and 1970s) federal antitrust probes by the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2015, Cravath served as legal advisor to Heinz in its merger with Kraft Foods, backed by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway, creating the third-largest food and beverage company in North America.
Despite its fame, Cravath has remained a relatively small law firm compared to most of its direct competitors, both in terms of the number of attorneys and revenue.
Rankings: In 2016, Chambers and Partners placed Cravath among the most elite law firms in the United States in mergers & acquisitions, securities, and tax practices. The 2022 edition of Benchmark Litigation ranked the firm 3rd on its list of top 20 trial law firms in the United States and a tier 1 firm in antitrust, commercial, and securities litigation.
1. Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Revenue: $10.6 billion
Number of attorneys: 4,200+
PPEP: $9.3 million
Famous former attorneys: Brett Kavanaugh (US Supreme Court Justice)
Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by overall revenue and ranks as the second-largest in the United States by profits per partner. The firm’s origins date back to 1909, when Chicago-based lawyers Robert R. McCormick and Stuart G. Shepard established the practice that would eventually become Kirkland & Ellis.
Today, the firm operates out of 17 offices worldwide. While Kirkland is best known for its litigation expertise, it also excels in intellectual property, transactional law, and restructuring services.
In recent years, the firm has worked on several high-profile litigations and corporate transaction cases. In 2010, Kirkland defended British Petroleum in the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill case in the Gulf of Mexico. The firm was hired by German automaker Volkswagen during its 2015 emissions scandal.
In 2019, Kirkland advised real estate logistics provider GLP on the sale of its U.S. warehouse business to Blackstone, the largest-ever private real estate deal at $18.7 billion.
Rankings: Kirkland & Ellis consistently earns top recognition for its legal expertise. Benchmark Litigation ranks the firm Tier 1 across multiple practice areas, including appellate, bankruptcy, commercial, antitrust, intellectual property, and securities litigation.
In 2019, Mergers & Acquisitions magazine named Kirkland “Law Firm of the Year” for its role in advising on 400 M&A deals in the United States. In 2024, the firm achieved the top spot on both The American Lawyer’s Am Law 200 ranking and the Global 200 survey, solidifying its position as the highest-grossing law firm worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the five largest law firms?
Based on the overall annual revenue, the five largest law firms in the world are (in order) – Kirkland & Ellis ($7.2 billion), Latham & Watkins ($5.6 billion), DLA Piper ($3.8 billion), Baker McKenzie ($3.2 billion), and Skadden Arps ($3,2 billion).
Large multinational law firms with very high revenues are often called “BigLaw.” These firms are mainly based in major cities in the U.S. and the U.K., with offices in big cities around the world. Lawyers working at BigLaw firms usually earn higher salaries compared to those in smaller private law firms.
How much do lawyers earn in a law firm?
A law firm’s salary structure mainly depends on its size and the country it operates in. Traditionally, large firms follow a system where fresh law graduates are hired on a fixed salary, with automatic yearly increases and bonuses. This is called the lockstep compensation system.
On the other hand, some firms use a merit-based model, where salaries depend on an individual’s performance or the overall performance of the firm.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for lawyers in the United States was $151,160 in 2024, while the average (mean) salary was $163,770
What is a white shoe firm?
The term “white shoe” in the legal industry refers to the largest and most prestigious law firms in the world. Initially, the term was coined specifically for law firms, but it’s now used in other fields, such as consulting and investment banking. A white-shoe firm usually has a century-long history and a highly reputable clientele.
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