Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Locke Lord
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Locke Lord
- Designation: Dallas
- Head Count: 516
- Gross Revenues: $428,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $830,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,065,000
- Year Over Year Change: no change
The October 2007 merger between Dallas–based Locke, Liddell & Sapp and Chicago’s Lord, Bissell & Brook didn’t just create a legal powerhouse with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, it also created one tongue–twister of a name. Four years later, the firm would do something about that, changing Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell to, simply, Locke Lord. No doubt this was a relief to the firm’s receptionists. But its name isn’t the only thing Locke Lord has tweaked.
Recent years have seen Locke Lord embrace an ambitious growth strategy. In 2010 it opened a San Francisco office and expanded its New York office, both moves designed to grow the firm’s intellectual property practice (a full–service firm, Locke Lord handles transactional, regulatory, and litigation assignments, with energy, insurance, and real estate among its core practice areas). In 2011 the firm set its sights on Asia, opening an office in Hong Kong. In early 2012 it put down stakes in London, boosted by the addition of seven partners from the European megafirm Salans. The London office is Locke Lord’s first in Europe (its 11 other offices are located within the United States).
What hasn’t gotten a boost, however, is the firm’s pro bono commitment: Locke Lord placed 141st (of 200 firms) on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Pro Bono Report, with attorneys compiling an average annual workload of just 23 hours. Nor is the firm a chart–topper in diversity: Minorities composed less than 10 percent of Locke Lord’s U.S.based attorneys, and just 6 percent of its partnership, in 2011—figures that placed it 131st of 194 firms the magazine surveyed. Junior lawyers have seen some of their perks dry up, too: To cut costs during the recession, Locke Lord stopped paying for associates’ parking.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 69 | no change | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 69 | no change | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 74 | 2 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 141 | 12 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 95 | 36 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 71 | 3 | Summer programs |
In the News
Firm Finance: What Was Notable for 2012
: Texas Lawyer : April 29, 2013
Stats for each of the top 25 firms.
Civil Theft Judgment Entered Against Ex-Managing Partner
John Council : Texas Lawyer : April 29, 2013
A judge has signed an agreed judgment between Dallas firm Dehay & Elliston and its former managing partner W. Scott Berry, which results in a judgment of "common-law fraud, fraud by non-disclosure, actual fraud, false pretenses, theft and breach of fiduciary duty" against Berry.
Newsmakers
: Texas Lawyer : April 29, 2013
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : April 26, 2013
Ropes & Gray hires five new partners in Hong Kong, London, and New York; a hedge fund general counsel joins Sidley Austin in London; and Cozen O'Connor takes one from Blank Rome in New York. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Big Deals
David Marcus : The American Lawyer : April 25, 2013
American/US Airways; Linn/Berry Petroleum
MOVERS
: The National Law Journal : April 15, 2013
Rebekah Plowman and Kristen McDonald join Jones Day's health care practice as partners in the Atlanta office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.
Newsmakers
: Texas Lawyer : April 15, 2013
Meet the Lawyers Appointed to Texas Senators’ Screening Committee for Federal Judgeships, U.S. Attorney Positions in the Lone Star State
John Council : Texas Lawyer : April 15, 2013
U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Republicans of Texas, today announced their bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, which will screen and recommend nominees for federal judicial and U.S. attorney vacancies in Texas.
Ninth Circuit Revives Enron-Era Antitrust Claims
Scott Graham : The Recorder : April 10, 2013
In ruling against gas companies, Judge Carlos Bea said in this litigation, state law claims aren't pre-empted.
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Andrews Kurth
- Arent Fox
- Arthur Cox
- Ashurst
- Baker & McKenzie
- Bingham McCutchen
- Bracewell & Giuliani
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Crowell & Moring
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Denton Wilde Sapte
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Freehills
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Goulston & Storrs
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Heller Ehrman
- Herbert Smith
- Holland & Knight
- Howrey
- Husch Blackwell
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jenner & Block
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Katten Muchin Rosenman
- Keker & Van Nest
- Kilpatrick Townsend
- King & Spalding
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Lathrop & Gage
- Linklaters
- 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
- Reed Smith
- 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 & Cromwell
- Sullivan & Worcester
- Thompson Hine
- Vinson & Elkins
- Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- White & Case
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
