When looked at as a whole, the 2020 financial performance of the AmLaw 200 looks great. But there are troubling issues for the AmLaw “2nd 100”.
ALM recently released its financial summary for the AmLaw 200 for 2020. (The AmLaw 200 consists of the top 200 firms in gross dollar revenue). On the surface, the picture looks rosy for 2021. But a closer look reveals some clouds on the horizon for the second 100 law firms, which rank from 101-200 in gross revenues.
ALM summarized the results last week in a Webinar held by Gina Passarella, Editor in Chief of the American Lawyer, Ben Seal, Executive Editor ALM, Dan Masopust Senior ALM Research Manager, Lizzy McLellan, ALM Senior Editor, Christine Simmons, ALM Financials Editor, Dan Packel, ALM Reporter, and Dan Roe, ALM Reporter.
First, as the Panel noted, the AmLaw 200 and particularly the 2nd 100 are a diverse group of firms. It includes smaller boutique-type firms, general corporate practice firms, local firms, and regional firms. So while it’s a little hard to generalize, I have written before about the general risks the future legal market might pose to midsize firms, many of which fall in the 2nd 100. Among other things, these risks stem from problems these firms have in spreading the costs of technology and innovation across a limited number of partners, limiting adoption. It’s simple economics.
Midsize firms face a potential loss of work–especially high rate work– to larger, national firms
And, as mentioned before, midsize
