“It’s the greatest law firm on the planet.” This is how a well-known partner at an elite law firm recently described a particular U.S. law firm to me. And they weren’t talking about their own firm. They were talking about Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz—Manhattan’s 90-partner, single-office, 1960s-founded deal-making phenomenon. As successful as it is enigmatic, today, Wachtell’s partners pocket around $8.5 million. Way above the AmLaw 100 average. So unique is it that it’s often excluded from conversations about law firms that belong in the ‘global elite’—an emergent (some would argue theoretical) group of firms that will have the infrastructure and range and depth of expertise to capture the most lucrative and complex deals for years to come. Most of these firms are global in scale and ambition. Think 20-office Kirkland & Ellis or 21-office Gibson Dunn. But Wachtell is tiny. It seems to frustrate the whole idea behind the global elite. However, as Paul Hodkinson discovers, much like the elites several times its size, it does abide by one pretty strict economic rule: the revenue-growth/PEP-growth correlation. Read Paul’s essential piece: https://lnkd.in/eu5J-TVm #law #corporatelaw #lawyers #lawfirms
Chris Reed
2mo
"The greatest law firm on the planet..." as measured by what?
Proves that for some going global not necessarily correlates to increase in PEP. Selective overseas markets must be the way forward depending on the firms client needs
Founder and Managing Director @ Better Ipsum
2moAnd the most important factor: the one-line bill..