Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Designation: New York
- Head Count: 476
- Gross Revenues: $444,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $935,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,315,000
- Year Over Year Change: 3
Many firms were hit hard by the economic downturn, but perhaps none as hard as Fried, Frank. A largely transactional firm, known for its practices in M&A, securities regulation, antitrust, and bankruptcy and restructuring, it finished last (out of 84 firms) in The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index. Between 2007 and 2009, gross revenue suffered a compound annual growth rate of minus 11 percent, and profits per partner was a negative 10 percent. More than 100 lawyer positions were cut (including equity partners), foreign offices were trimmed, and associate start dates were delayed. In 2008 alone, profits per partner plunged by 23 percent, to $1.23 million.
But Fried, Frank, it turned out, wasn’t down for the count. The firm learned to do more with less, and by the end of 2010, profits per partner were nearly equal their prerecession figure of $1.6 million. While that year’s revenue was slightly more than $471 million (putting the firm sixtieth on the 2011 Am Law 100 list), it was an 11 percent increase from 2009.
In some ways, however, this was not the same Fried, Frank. The head count, for example, wasn’t just lower, but also included—for the first time ever—nonequity partners. But in other ways, Fried, Frank was back to basics, benefiting from an uptick in the transactional work that has traditionally been its bread and butter. In The American Lawyer’s 2011 Corporate Scorecard, the firm ranked fifth in private equity (by number of transactions), second (by value) as counsel to investment advisers in M&A, and third (by value) as underwriter’s counsel in U.S. IPOs. Associate morale was still in need of a boost—the firm ranked 121st of 137 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2010 Midlevel Associates Survey and 101st of 126 in 2011, but at least that figure, like other key measures at Fried, Frank, was heading in the right direction.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 65 | 3 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 65 | 3 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 80 | 1 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 97 | 16 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 123 | 16 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 101 | no change | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 74 | 25 | Summer programs |
In the News
Latham, Davis Polk Lead as Actavis Buys Generic Rival
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Generic drug maker Actavis has agreed to pay $5 billion in stock and assumed $3.5 billion in debt to acquire Irish rival Warner Chilcott. The deal comes less than a month after the collapse of a tentative deal that would have seen Actavis sold to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $13 billion.
Asia Deal Digest: May 16, 2013
Tom Brennan : The Asian Lawyer : May 16, 2013
* Davis Polk on a $4 billion bond offering for China's CNOOC* Allen & Overy advising Sinopec Engineering on its $2.7 billion IPO* Four Wall Street firms take on AsiaInfo-Linkage's $890 million take-private deal
Four Firms on $890 Million China Take Private Deal
Tom Brennan : The Asian Lawyer : May 14, 2013
Telecom software company AsiaInfo-Linkage is the latest Chinese company to seek to de-list from a U.S. exchange.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
Dickstein Shapiro loses a partner to Jones Day in Washington, D.C.; Bryan Cave poaches five attorneys from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; and a former Dewey & LeBoeuf partner, most recently with Linklaters, joins KPMG. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Media Mashup: AP, Bloomberg Lean on Outside Counsel
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
Both The Associated Press and Bloomberg L.P. have retained outside counsel this week after finding themselves caught up in two very different controversies, with the AP fighting back against the Justice Department's seizure of reporters' and editors' phone records amid a government leaks probe, and Bloomberg under fire for allegedly using its ubiquitous terminals to tap into the personal information of company clients.
Sheppard Mullin Eyed for New Orleans Cop Monitor Role
Drew Combs : The Am Law Daily : May 13, 2013
As one of two finalists bidding to oversee a sweeping effort to reform the scandal-scarred New Orleans Police Department under a 2012 federal consent decree, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton has a lot going for it—including the support of the U.S. Justice Department.
Largest New York Firms Show Steady Growth
Christine Simmons : New York Law Journal : May 9, 2013
Growth was steady last year for most of the 20 largest law firms in New York, with slight to moderate gains in gross revenue and profits per partner.
Am Law, Global Firms Grab Roles on Big Canadian Deals
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 8, 2013
Weil is counseling an Ontario retirement system on its $600 million buy of a British software maker Civica; Fried Frank is advising Toronto-based private equity firm Onex on its $950 million purchase of Nielsen Expositions; and Freshfields and Linklaters have landed roles on a $1.4 billion airport concession involving a Canadian pension fund.
VOLS Firms Meet Pro Bono 2012 Pledge
Bill Lienhard : New York Law Journal : May 3, 2013
Galleon-Era Cases Shape Insider Trading Landscape
William F. Johnson : New York Law Journal : May 2, 2013
In his Corporate Crime column, William F. Johnson, a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, reviews how decisions by courts in both criminal and civil Galleon-related cases have clarified or modified the parameters of insider trading liability and highlights some of the key issues that are likely to be litigated at the appellate level as these cases move from the Southern District of New York to the Second Circuit.
- Adams and Reese
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Arent Fox
- Arthur Cox
- Baker & McKenzie
- Buist Moore
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Freehills
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Heller Ehrman
- Herbert Smith
- Howrey
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jenner & Block
- K&L Gates
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- Minter Ellison
- Moore & Van Allen
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
- Nexsen Pruet
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Perkins Coie
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Ruden McClosky
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Slaughter and May
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
