Largest law firms at your service

Without any doubt, being a lawyer is one of the most powerful professions in the world. Lawyers especially those in family law are the ones who are supposed to understand the laws by which ordinary citizens have to live by. They can charge exorbitant prices for their services. But within the law profession, there are those considered to be elites. They are the ones who graduated from prestigious law schools of their respective countries. In most cases they are expected to join powerful law firms and become partners.

Law firms have become big businesses and the leading ones in the world are now valued at billions of dollars. That’s a great deal of money.

Largest Law Firms by Revenue

Law firms can be ranked by the amount of revenue that they are making. Here are some of the largest law firms in the world according their 2010 revenue:

Baker & McKenzie

This law firm was founded in 1949 in Chicago. The founding partners were John McKenzie and Russell Baker. It has an international operation and it has spread over to more than 40 countries with thousands of lawyers.

Since the operation of the firm is international in character, no single nationality is dominant within the organization. Not even the Americans. The lawyers are drawn from more than 60 countries and they all speak English. The firm’s revenue was $2,104,000,000 back in 2010 making it the largest law firm by revenue, but it is also the largest by number of lawyers.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates

The name of the firm is sometimes shortened to SASM&F. It was founded in 1948 and is based in New York City. It is one of the largest law firms in the world and has been hailed as one of the most powerful. In terms of revenue SASM&F is just a bit behind Baker & McKenzie since it earned US$2.1 billion in 2010.

With almost 2,000 lawyers in more than 20 offices, the firm is ranked tenth in the world in terms of number of staff.

Clifford Chance LLP

Clifford Chance is the largest law firm that is based outside of the United States. It has its headquarters in London. In 2010 the firm earned $1,800,000,000 making it the third largest law firm in the world in terms of revenues. It also belongs in the top ten firms in the world when it comes to the number of lawyers.

Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is another international law firm that has offices in the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The firm started out in California in the 1930s but has its biggest office in New York. In 2010 the firm earned $1,821,000,000 which was actually a decrease in its earnings because it was the first American based law firm to earn more than $2 billion in 2007.

Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis is considered to be one of the most prestigious firms based in Chicago today. Back in 2010 it was able to earn $1.73 billion in revenues making it one of the most profitable law firms. In terms of number of lawyers in its staff it ranks 13th among the law firms within the United States.