Firm Profiles

Founded in 1934 as a Chicago–based tax practice, McDermott Will & Emery has grown dramatically since then—in every possible way: The firm now numbers around 1,000 lawyers, who operate out of more than a dozen offices in the United States and Europe (in China, McDermott has an alliance with a Shanghai–based firm doing business as MWE China Law Offices). It offers a multitude of practice areas, too, with litigation, health care, energy, private client and wealth management, and intellectual property particular strengths. Indeed, McDermott earned honorable mentions in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Department of the Year competitions in 2010 and 2008 (the contest is held every two years). And its IP department—composed of more than 200 lawyers and patent agents—has seen significant expansion in recent years, including the hiring of 25 laterals in 2011 alone.

But McDermott’s growth hasn’t always been unhindered. The firm was hit hard during the economic downturn: It placed seventy–ninth of 84 firms on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index (its annual revenue dropped by a combined $100 million in 2009 and 2010). McDermott laid off 60 lawyers and 89 staff members in February 2009, and an additional 25 lawyers and 47 staff the following June.

Notably—and unlike many of its peers—McDermott maintains a strict policy of not assuming any debt. That, says firm cochair Peter Sacripanti, has been “the major tenet of the fiscal philosophy of this firm for many years.” The firm is known, too, for its two–tier partnership structure, consisting of income partners and equity partners—a setup that can mean big differences in take–home among McDermott lawyers (not coincidentally, perhaps, the firm has been noted for a relatively large number of partner departures in recent years).

On noneconomic measures, McDermott usually scores well above average. It placed sixty–fourth of 194 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Diversity Scorecard (nearly 14 percent of its U.S. attorneys, and almost 10 percent of its partners, were minorities). And McDermott ranked close to the top quarter (fifty–eighth of 200 firms) on our 2011 Pro Bono Report, with attorneys averaging just under 50 hours a year of nonpaying work. As for associate satisfaction, the firm has room for improvement: It placed in the bottom third on both our 2011 and 2010 midlevels surveys.

—Updated as of 1/1/12