Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Fulbright & Jaworski
- Designation: Houston
- Head Count: 790
- Gross Revenues: $585,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $740,000
- Profits Per Partner: $780,000
- Year Over Year Change: 6
As you might expect from a firm founded a century ago in Houston, Fulbright & Jaworski’s energy practice is one of its core strengths. So, too, is health care law. No surprise there, given the firm’s lengthy association with the city’s sprawling Texas Medical Center. But Fulbright is also home to a top–notch litigation group, which earned an honorable mention in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Department of the Year contest in both 2008 and 2010.
While Fulbright’s history in Texas runs deep, its reach extended beyond the state’s borders almost from the beginning. Just eight years after its 1919 founding, the firm opened a Washington, D.C., office, giving it ready access to the agencies overseeing trade and commerce. Expansion continued throughout the years, with the firm now counting 17 offices worldwide, both in long established markets like London and Hong Kong and emerging regions like Dubai and Riyadh. The Middle East has become a big focus for the firm in recent years, and it has leveraged its energy and international transactional experience to become one of the region’s key players in Islamic finance and project finance work.
While Fulbright’s revenues put it within the top 50 firms, by other metrics it routinely falls outside the top 100. It ranked 101st in profit per partner for 2010, and 125th on the Am Law Profitability Index that year.
While many other firms fared worse during the economic crisis, Fulbright did not emerge unscathed. Revenue in 2010 was down nearly 3 percent from the prior year, and the firm’s attorney head count of 843 marked a sizable decline from a peak of 936 in 2007.
Fulbright scored middle–of–the–road numbers for diversity in 2011, coming in eightieth of 194 firms on The American Lawyer’s annual survey (just under 14 percent of U.S. attorneys, and 7 percent of U.S. partners, are minorities).
On the pro bono front, the firm actively encourages participation by factoring in hours when calculating associate bonuses. Given Fulbright’s ranking in the top 20 percent of firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Pro Bono report—lawyers performed, on average, 88 hours per year of nonpaying work—the tactic seems to be working.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 54 | 6 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 54 | 6 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 37 | 4 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 38 | 17 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 88 | 8 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Summer programs |
In the News
Two Bills Would Shift Money to Civil Legal Aid
Angela Morris : Texas Lawyer : March 19, 2013
Funding for legal aid services for indigent Texans could get a boost if the Legislature passes two bills that committees in the House and Senate considered separately on March 18.
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.
Unintended Consequences of Bring Your Own Device
Susan Ross : Law Technology News : March 18, 2013
With practically all the people you know walking around with more computing power in their pockets than could have been mustered by an army of lab-coated technicians a few decades ago, it's not surprising that Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is the now thing.
Am Law 100 Trio Reap Benefits of NFL Legal Work
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : March 15, 2013
Recent federal tax filings by the National Football League and its collective bargaining arm, the NFL Management Council, show that the league paid a total of at least $15 million in legal fees to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Covington & Burling, and Proskauer Rose during its 2011 fiscal year, which included the four-and-a-half-month labor lockout that ultimately ended with a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement.
Amici organizations and lawyers in the DOMA case
: The National Law Journal : March 13, 2013
More In-House Lawyers Question the Billable Hour
Veta T. Richardson : Corporate Counsel : March 13, 2013
Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO of the Association of Corporate Counsel, responds to our article, "AFAs Trending Down in U.S. and U.K."
Unintended Consequences of 'Bring Your Own Device'
Susan Ross : Law Technology News : March 8, 2013
With practically everyone you know walking around with more computing power in their pockets than could have been mustered by an army of lab-coated technicians a few decades ago, it's not surprising that Bring Your Own Device is the now thing.
Vereins: The new structure for global firms
Chris Johnson : The American Lawyer : March 7, 2013
When is a law firm not a law firm? That sounds like the setup to the driest joke of all time. In fact, it's the subject of serious debate within the industry.
Correction
: Texas Lawyer : March 4, 2013
Litigation Trends Survey Predicts a Bumpy Ride in 2013
Sue Reisinger : Corporate Counsel : March 4, 2013
Buckle up, general counsel, because your colleagues expect a bumpy litigation ride in 2013. In fact, according to the "9th Annual Litigation Trends Survey" by Fulbright & Jaworski, it's already started.
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