Firm Profiles

When Morgan, Lewis & Bockius does something, it tends to do it in a big way. There are the billion–dollar revenues, the massive roster of lawyers, the far–flung network of offices (22 across the globe), and the long list of A–list clients (including nine of the top ten companies in the Fortune 100). There is the firm’s big list of practice areas, too, which run the gamut from transactional and litigation to regulatory and intellectual property.

Morgan, Lewis’s labor and employment lawyers are particularly renowned. The group took top honors in The American Lawyer’s 2006 Labor and Employment Litigation Department of the Year contest, and was named a finalist in 2004, 2008, 2010, and 2012 (the competition is held every two years). The firm also scores above average on several key noneconomic law firm measures. It ranked fifty–ninth of 200 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Pro Bono Report (with lawyers averaging 52 hours of volunteer legal work) and in the top third of firms (fortieth of 126) on our 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey. On diversity, Morgan, Lewis fares somewhat less well: minorities compose 14 percent of all U.S. lawyers and nearly 7 percent of U.S. partners, ranking it eighty–third of 200 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 tally.

While Morgan, Lewis’s revenue put it among the top tier of Am Law 100 firms, it has never topped the chart on profitability. Indeed, the firm’s profits per partner put it within the top 50. Morgan’s revenue per lawyer also places it around the middle of the pack. The firm gets its share of headline transactions—helping Pep Boys in its $1 billion buyout—but prides itself on handling important “operations” work, the blocking and tackling required by Corporate America.

Like many of its peers, Morgan, Lewis saw its transactional practices take a significant hit during the economic downturn. The firm ranked thirty–eighth of 84 firms on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index, which measured performance between 2007 and 2009. Layoffs in March 2009 saw the departure of 55 attorneys, mostly associates, as well as 161 support staff.

Like many firms, Morgan, Lewis is looking to Asia for growth. It opened in Tokyo in 1988, one of the first western firms to land there. MLB didn’t get to Beijing until 2006, but it has created a dedicated Greater China Practice, with partners from five practices handling investments and disputes, in and out–bound.

—Updated as of 1/1/12