Legal 500 data highlights the contrast between the laser-focused firms cleaning up in core markets and the wide footprint of the global giants
While the upper echelons of the Global 100 are inevitably dominated by US heritage firms with a global footprint, a re-ordering of the group by Legal 500 rankings presents a notably different hierarchy.
In fact, the picture is almost completely flipped. By revenue, two thirds of the highest-grossing Global 100 firms are US-headquartered, but by Legal 500 rankings, almost all of the Global 100 top 25 are either global vereins or UK-headquartered internationals (see data comparison).
This can be attributed in large part to the relative depth of the Legal 500’s global coverage, with the two most mature guides – EMEA and UK – housing significantly more rankings than other international regions such as the US. But closer analysis of the data broken down along geographical lines offers further insight into the stark differences of focus across the Global 100.
Rankings data for the top Global 100 firm, Kirkland & Ellis, neatly illustrates the overwhelming importance of the New York and London deal markets where they and many other elite Global 100 firms are heavily focused.
While Kirkland hit new revenue heights of $6bn this year (double that of Skadden in fifth place), the firm has just 110 Legal 500 rankings, only marginally above the group’s average total of 107, placing it 31st among the Global 100 on that metric.
More than 80% of Kirkland’s Legal 500 rankings are in the US and UK guides, and in rankings terms, the firm only has a presence in seven countries, in stark comparison to the global vereins such as DLA Piper, which has 700 rankings in 63 countries across the guide, only 27% of which are in the UK and the US.
As referenced, Kirkland is one of the five fastest growing Global 100 firms by revenue over the past ten years, and three of the other five have a similarly limited Legal 500 presence – Cooley (56 rankings across 4 countries), Ropes & Gray (79 rankings across 8 countries) and Goodwin (73 rankings across 7 countries), pointing to their laser-sharp focus on their areas of expertise in tech, private equity and life sciences respectively.
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Global 100 firms ranked by L500 rankings
| Firm | L500 rankings | G100 rank | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA Piper | 700 | 3 | International |
| Baker McKenzie | 665 | 4 | International |
| CMS | 460 | 22 | International |
| Dentons | 454 | 6 | International |
| Clifford Chance | 360 | 9 | International |
| Hogan Lovells | 352 | 12 | International |
| Allen & Overy | 350 | 11 | International |
| Eversheds Sutherland | 350 | 34 | International |
| White & Case | 302 | 7 | International |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 279 | 19 | International |
| Linklaters | 265 | 15 | International |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | 245 | 33 | International |
| Bird & Bird | 228 | 95 | International |
| Pinsent Masons | 226 | 79 | International |
| Latham & Watkins | 219 | 2 | US |
| Mayer Brown | 211 | 26 | US |
| Jones Day | 206 | 16 | US |
| Ashurst | 190 | 56 | International |
| Simmons & Simmons | 161 | 92 | London |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 158 | 17 | International |
| Clyde & Co | 151 | 72 | London |
| Reed Smith | 142 | 36 | International |
| Squire Patton Boggs | 137 | 54 | International |
| Morgan Lewis | 128 | 13 | US |
| Gibson Dunn | 125 | 14 | US |
| K&L Gates | 125 | 49 | US |
| Greenberg Traurig | 120 | 20 | US |
| Skadden | 117 | 5 | US |
| Paul Hastings | 117 | 32 | US |
| Shearman & Sterling | 115 | 62 | US |
NB: Firms highlighted in blue are US firms as per the Global 100 methodology.
Global 100 rankings
| Firm | G100 rank | L500 rankings | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland & Ellis | 1 | 110 | US |
| Latham & Watkins | 2 | 219 | US |
| DLA Piper | 3 | 700 | International |
| Baker McKenzie | 4 | 665 | International |
| Skadden | 5 | 117 | US |
| Dentons | 6 | 454 | International |
| White & Case | 7 | 302 | International |
| Sidley | 8 | 62 | US |
| Clifford Chance | 9 | 360 | International |
| Ropes & Gray | 10 | 79 | US |
| Allen & Overy | 11 | 350 | International |
| Hogan Lovells | 12 | 352 | International |
| Morgan Lewis | 13 | 128 | US |
| Gibson Dunn | 14 | 125 | US |
| Linklaters | 15 | 265 | International |
| Jones Day | 16 | 206 | US |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 17 | 158 | International |
| Simpson Thacher | 18 | 75 | US |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 19 | 279 | International |
| Greenberg Traurig | 20 | 120 | US |
| Cooley | 21 | 56 | US |
| CMS | 22 | 460 | International |
| Goodwin | 23 | 73 | US |
| Davis Polk | 24 | 62 | US |
| Weil | 25 | 87 | US |
| Paul Weiss | 26 | 60 | US |
| Mayer Brown | 27 | 211 | US |
| King & Spalding | 28 | 109 | US |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | 29 | 46 | US |
| McDermott Will & Emery | 30 | 96 | US |
NB: Firms highlighted in blue are US firms as per the Global 100 methodology.