Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Arnold & Porter LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Arnold & Porter
- Designation: Washington, D.C.
- Head Count: 748
- Gross Revenues: $731,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $975,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,425,000
- Year Over Year Change: 7
While its practice areas include everything you’d expect at a major market law firm—from litigation and antitrust to corporate real estate and intellectual property—Arnold & Porter’s trump card has always been its status as an “insider” among the Washington, D.C., law firms. Its three founders (among them Abe Fortas, who would later become a U.S. Supreme Court justice and Thurman Arnold, the legal polymath—professor, antitrust crusdader, federal appeals court judge) had all been high–ranking officials during the New Deal era. That tradition continues with more than 80 of the firm’s partners having served in government positions within the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S.Department of Justice, and even Congress. Arnold & Porter was D.C.’s second–largest firm by lawyer head count in 2011 (roughly 60 percent of the firm’s lawyers work out of Washington), and the firm’s strengths have long included its regulatory, policy, and appellate work.
Arnold & Porter has been a fairly regular presence on The American Lawyer’s A–List, which tracks the top 20 U.S. firms according to revenue per lawyer, diversity, pro bono work, and associate satisfaction. But while the firm ranked in the top ten on that list in 2008 and 2009, it dropped to seventeenth in 2010 and fell off entirely in 2011. One reason might be slumping morale among associates: Arnold & Porter ranked 109th of 126 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey (it was 106th of 137 firms in 2010).
Like some of its fellow D.C. firms, Arnold & Porter has one of the most active pro bono practices among The Am Law 100, ranking fourteenth in 2011, with attorneys averaging just over 111 hours of pro bono work. Diversity has long been another of the firm’s strong suits. Indeed, Arnold & Porter was the first major D.C. firm to name an African American partner, and by 2011 nearly 20 percent of its U.S. attorneys identified themselves as a minority (including almost 10 percent of the firm’s partners).
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 37 | 7 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 37 | 7 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 56 | 1 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | 22 | 3 | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 14 | 12 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 24 | 2 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 109 | 3 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 14 | 5 | Summer programs |
In the News
NYCLA Hosts Essay Contest Winner
: New York Law Journal : May 16, 2013
Aglaia Ho of Stuyvesant High School took home the first place prize of $1,000 in the bar group's Annual New York City High School Essay Contest.
NYCLA Honors Judge Smith
Rick Kopstein, Photographer : New York Law Journal : May 14, 2013
The New York County Lawyers Association honored Court of Appeals Judge Robert Smith with its Justice Louis J. Capozzoli Gavel Award at the bar group's annual Law Day Luncheon.
INADMISSIBLE: For Donald Verrilli, A Collective Embrace
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
On April 25, veterans of the Supreme Court bar came together to show Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. some love and blunt the criticism that has been aimed at him. Plus: Lamberth's rebuke, putting the U.S. criminal code on a diet, Cooke's Michael Jackson connection, Moreno leaves DOJ, the Justice Potter Stewart Award, and Humenik joins Covington in this week's column.
Comments on Proposed Enhanced Standards for Non-U.S. Banks
Kathleen A. Scott : New York Law Journal : May 10, 2013
In her International Banking column, Kathleen A. Scott, counsel at Arnold & Porter, writes that, while one can understand the FRB's interest in having the prudential standards for the large non-U.S. banks with U.S. banking operations resemble those of the prudential standards for large U.S. banks, their basic differences need to be taken into account, most importantly, non-U.S. banks already have home country regulators and prudential standards to which they must conform.
Calendar of Events
: New York Law Journal : May 10, 2013
Am Law 100 Trio Lead on $1 Billion in Property Sales
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 9, 2013
Real estate firm Hines has announced the sale of Manhattan office buildings at 425 Lexington Avenue and 499 Park Avenue to JPMorgan Asset Management and American Realty Advisors, respectively, for a combined total of more than $1 billion. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's recent renewal of a lease for 595,000 square feet of space at 425 Lexington was a key factor in the sale of the office tower.
Howrey and Heller United on Clawback Question
Julia Love : The Recorder : May 8, 2013
The Howrey bankruptcy trustee is lending a hand to the Heller Ehrman estate as it tries to stymie four firms' efforts to appeal clawback claims.
Reducing Legal Hurdles to Combined Heat and Power in New York
Michael B. Gerrard : New York Law Journal : May 8, 2013
In his Environmental Law column, Michael B. Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, writes that an interdisciplinary team at Columbia University has been working on methods to advance the use of Combined heat and power in New York, with financial support from the Earth Institute's Cross Cutting Initiatives program.
Howrey and Heller United on Clawback Question
Julia Love : The Recorder : May 7, 2013
'Savior of Baseball' Sotomayor Makes Return
Tony Mauro : The National Law Journal : May 7, 2013
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who earned the title of "savior of baseball" in 1995 as the judge who ended a lengthy players' strike, will revisit the legal issues surrounding the sport this month.
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