Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Bingham McCutchen LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Bingham McCutchen
- Designation: National
- Head Count: 900
- Gross Revenues: $872,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $970,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,690,000
- Year Over Year Change: 1
It may not be wise to compare a firm with deep roots in Boston to New York Yankee great Joe DiMaggio, but both enjoyed memorable streaks: DiMaggio, 56 straight games with a hit; Bingham McCutchen, 15 straight years of rising revenues. Indeed, Bingham’s streak continued through the worst of the global financial crisis, ending only in 2011.
The baseball analogy is doubly fitting, since one needs a scorecard to follow Bingham’s growth. The firm is the result of a string of mergers, beginning in 2001, when Boston’s Bingham Dana merged with Richards & O’Neill, a 55–lawyer New York firm known for its litigation and corporate groups. The following year, Bingham merged with San Francisco’s McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, adding five offices and boosting its intellectual property practice. A few smaller mergers followed, and then in 2009, Bingham acquired McKee Nelson, an Am Law 200 firm that specialized in tax and structured finance.
Despite Bingham’s above–average showing during the downturn—it placed fifth of 84 firms on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index—it laid off a few dozen lawyers and staff in 2009 and instituted a salary freeze for that year. Not incidentally, perhaps, subsequent associate satisfaction scores were less than stellar, with the firm placing 105th of 137 firms in our 2010 Midlevel Associates Survey and eighty–third of 126 firms on the 2011 tally. Summer associates, on the other hand, saw things quite differently, with the firm ranking second on the magazine’s 2010 survey and third in 2011.
Bingham—which has a sizable presence in Washington, D.C., thanks to a 2006 merger with 175–lawyer Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman—has branched out into lobbying work. A fully owned subsidiary, Bingham Consulting, assists clients with matters that mix business, policy, and politics. Chris Cox, a former California Congressman and SEC chair, heads BC. The firm has also joined many of its peers in looking toward Asia for future growth. It opened Hong Kong and Tokyo offices in 2007, followed by a Beijing office in 2011.
Indeed, China’s growing importance is such, says firm chair Jay Zimmerman, that “we can’t afford not to be there in the long term.”
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 26 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 26 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 32 | 6 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 55 | 12 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 122 | 32 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 83 | 22 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Summer programs |
In the News
Ex-Bingham Associate With Sleep Disorder Wins Round at Appeal Court
Scott Graham : The Recorder : March 29, 2013
SEC Validates Online VC Model
Joshua Sisco : The Recorder : March 28, 2013
Life prisoner's bid for sex change becomes cause célèbre
Sheri Qualters : The National Law Journal : March 28, 2013
Political and religious groups at both ends of the political spectrum have jumped into the appellate battle over a Boston federal judge's order that prison officials provide sex reassignment surgery for a convicted murderer.
Lawyers Seeing Faster Inside Track
Joshua Sisco : The Recorder : March 22, 2013
There are signs that the typical in-house career path is changing rapidly, as companies large and small look to fill in-house slots with cheaper, more junior lawyers. With cost cutting at firms affecting both hiring and training, smaller companies are selectively hiring people with zero to five years of experience, recruiters and in-house managers say.
Bingham Hires Five Corporate Lawyers for Silicon Valley Office
Julia Love : The Recorder : March 21, 2013
Bingham McCutchen has brought on five corporate lawyers in Silicon Valley, including partner James Chapman and of counsel Stephen Clinton, both from Foley & Lardner, and partner Michael DiSanto, who joins from Dinsmore & Shohl. The hires are the product of a more than two-year search for the right corporate lawyers to build with in Silicon Valley, the firm said.
Recent Law School Grads Heading In-House
Joshua Sisco : The Recorder : March 20, 2013
The typical in-house career path started with seven years at a law firm. But there are signs that's changing rapidly, as companies large and small look to fill in-house slots with cheaper, more junior lawyers.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : March 19, 2013
The Silicon Valley office of Bingham McCutchen adds three new corporate attorneys; two former Husch Blackwell partners join a labor and employment boutique; and the former U.S. ambassador to Romania returns to Mayer Brown. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Recent Law School Grads Heading In-House
Joshua Sisco : The Recorder : March 19, 2013
The typical in-house career path started with seven years at a law firm. But there are signs that's changing rapidly, as companies large and small look to fill in-house slots with cheaper, more junior lawyers.
Bingham Hires Five Corporate Lawyers for Silicon Valley Office
Julia Love : The Recorder : March 18, 2013
Lawyers See Faster Inside Track
Joshua Sisco : The Recorder : March 15, 2013
Katia Bloom went straight from law school to an inhouse position as companies move away from the traditional approach of hiring lawyers seasoned through practice at a firm.
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