Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Designation: National
- Head Count: 806
- Gross Revenues: $775,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $960,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,540,000
- Year Over Year Change: no change
They started in 1945, a couple of young ex–FBI field agents who became partners in Gump & Strauss, a Dallas law firm. They were able and personable: Richard Gump had an eye for the energy business, and Robert Strauss had a gift for politics and a friend, John Connally, who was very close to Lyndon Johnson. Gump stayed in Texas; Strauss went to Washington, D.C. The result is a megafirm built on politics, energy, and drive.
But it’s not a Texas firm anymore. Strauss and his connections drove the firm’s direction. Former chair of the Democratic National Committee, he helped build Washington into the firm’s largest office (and a building named in his honor). Its $100 million public policy and lobbying practice is the capital’s largest, featuring prominent players from all sides of the spectrum. (The firm jousts with Patton Boggs each year for the top spot in the rankings.) Two years after Strauss stepped down as ambassador to Moscow, the firm opened there, building an early and lucrative practice amid the rubble of the Soviet empire. Texas remains the ancestral home, but even the New York office, with prominent private equity and bankruptcy practices, and a partnership famous for both its restlessness and its pricey midtown office space, is now bigger.
The firm’s trajectory hasn’t been one smooth glide. It has shed or discouraged practice groups and partners as it sought to build its profitibility—and suffered defections from partners who didn’t care for the turmoil or simply got better offers. It went abroad early, but not as boldly as the real global players or as deeply as those with clear niches. Like many firms, Akin suffered and shrunk during the recession years, firing several dozen associates and scores of nonlawyer staff. Morale seems to have improved; on the 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey it ranked thirteenth.
The firm is known for, among others, strong health care, project finance, international trade, white–collar, and appellate practices. And it keeps putting out tendrils, opening in Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Geneva, and Hong Kong over the past five years. A fitting legacy for a two–man shop that never recognized any boundaries on its ambition.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 32 | no change | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 32 | no change | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 40 | 1 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | 16 | 13 | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 35 | 3 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 50 | 3 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 13 | 84 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 8 | 18 | Summer programs |
In the News
Citi, Ex-Dewey Partner End Capital Loan Dispute
Sara Randazzo : The Am Law Daily : May 9, 2013
A New York federal district court judge approved an agreement Wednesday that dismisses dueling lawsuits that Citibank and former Dewey & LeBoeuf partner Steven Otillar filed against each other over what the bank claimed was Otillar's $209,670 debt.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 7, 2013
Edwards Wildman Palmer expands its newly launched Miami office; a Department of Justice lawyer joins Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C.; and Chadbourne & Parke loses a project finance partner in New York. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
D.C. MOVES
: The National Law Journal : May 6, 2013
Inadmissible
: Texas Lawyer : May 6, 2013
"Big Guns," "Double Entendres Abound" and "Six Texas Firms Top M&A"
Simpson, Vinson, Akin Advise on $7 Billion Shale Deal
Sara Randazzo : The Am Law Daily : May 6, 2013
Private equity-backed natural gas pipeline operator Crestwood Midstream Partners L.P. and energy services companies Inergy L.P. and Inergy Midstream L.P. announced Monday they plan to form a partnership to transport, process, and store gas and oil extracted from many of the country's largest shale formations.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 3, 2013
Littler Mendelson hires another batch of attorneys from Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Kaye Scholer adds a former New York State Supreme Court justice to its litigation practice; and Davis Wright Tremaine picks up three attorneys. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Tech Circuit: Bay Bridge Edition
Monica Bay : Law Technology News : May 1, 2013
After LegalTech New York, two perfect tech days in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Determining Jurisdiction for Patent Law Malpractice Cases
Larry Ashery : The Legal Intelligencer : May 1, 2013
As an intellectual property attorney, the federal jurisdiction of patent-related cases always seemed clear to me. 28 U.S.C. 1338 provides that: "The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action arising under any act of Congress relating to patents."
Determining Jurisdiction for Patent Law Malpractice Cases
Larry Ashery : The Legal Intelligencer : May 1, 2013
As an intellectual property attorney, the federal jurisdiction of patent-related cases always seemed clear to me. 28 U.S.C. 1338 provides that: "The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action arising under any act of Congress relating to patents."
Stepping Up to the Plate
: Corporate Counsel : May 1, 2013
The general counsel of the baseball players union always goes to bat for his men; and other Moves.
- Andrews Kurth
- Arent Fox
- Ashurst
- Baker & McKenzie
- Bingham McCutchen
- Bracewell & Giuliani
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Covington & Burling
- Crowell & Moring
- Denton Wilde Sapte
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Freehills
- Goulston & Storrs
- Heller Ehrman
- Herbert Smith
- Holland & Knight
- Howrey
- Husch Blackwell
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Katten Muchin Rosenman
- Keker & Van Nest
- Kilpatrick Townsend
- King & Spalding
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Lathrop & Gage
- Locke Lord
- Loeb & Loeb
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
- Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Morrison & Foerster
- Munger, Tolles & Olson
- O'Melveny & Myers
- Patton Boggs
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
- Perkins Coie
- Porter & Hedges
- Proskauer Rose
- Ropes & Gray
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Slaughter and May
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
- Steptoe & Johnson LLP
- Sullivan & Worcester
- Thompson Hine
- Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- White & Case
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
