The Big Law firm has hit profit per partner of $4.52 million

Big Law doesn’t get much bigger than Latham & Watkins post a $4.3bn revenue on the back of pandemic restructuring, deals and just plenty of fee-earning business. Revenue growth has been 15 per cent – not bad during a global pandemic that Latham & Watkins and other big firms have been able to shrug off.

Latham & Watkins, the LA-based legal behemoth, added $566m to its top line revenues in 2020, an increase of 15 per cent over the prior year and revenue per partner rose 10 per cent to $1.52 million.

Firm Chair Richard Trobman was upbeat as his predictions last year of continued double-digit growth came to pass, while noting that cost-savings were not a material aspect of the financials. ‘We are focusing on client demand. There was a significant uptick in the number of hours billed to clients and clients have recognised the value of our platform and the quality of the service we can deliver,’ he told Legal Business magazine.

Trobman emphasised that the growth was not down to a particular outperforming practice area but to increased demand across transactions and disputes, especially in global growth areas like tech, life sciences and financial services. ‘In capital markets, M&A and banking we are global market leaders and these increases have still outpaced the rest of the market,’ he said.

He also believes that next year will be an equally strong year for the firm, which has increased its headcount by some five per cent and made some major new lateral hires as well.

‘We’ve had an equally strong year, in extraordinary circumstances, on the things that make Latham a special firm – supporting our clients, one another and the community. There has been consistent high quality and each Latham lawyer has worked to achieve the best result for clients with a total lack of self-interest. Our focus on teamwork is never more evident than in the feedback we get from clients.’