Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Perkins Coie LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Perkins Coie
- Designation: Seattle
- Head Count: 823
- Gross Revenues: $608,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $740,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,015,000
- Year Over Year Change: no change
Founded in Seattle in 1912, Perkins Coie has grown—both in size and scope—along with its hometown. It has developed a busy technology–related practice and counts many of the region’s high–tech superstars—Amazon.com and Nintendo of America among them—as clients. Not surprisingly, e–commerce, intellectual property, and Internet law are strong points. The firm is also well known for its work related to government contracts (everything from bid protests to False Claims Act cases). That’s no surprise, either, given that The Boeing Company has been a major client since the firm’s founding.
Perkins—which ranked fifty–ninth on the 2011 Am Law 100 list, with $477 million in revenue—also boasts a large and high–profile political law department based out of its Washington, D.C., office. It has become a go–to practice for businesses, nonprofits, ideological groups, and candidates seeking assistance with matters like campaign financing, state and federal filing requirements, PAC compliance, lobbying disclosure requirements, and ethics statutes. Partner Robert Bauer served as White House counsel between 2009 and 2011 before rejoining the firm (he now serves as general counsel to President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, general counsel to the Democratic National Committee, and personal lawyer to the president).
The firm’s 19 offices are concentrated mainly in the western part of the country, and while revenues put it in The Am Law 100, profits–wise it has traditionally ranked outside the top 100 firms (that changed in 2011, however, when Perkins placed ninety–seventh in profits per partner, at $900,000). Average partner compensation, too, has ranked outside the top 100, with the firm coming in at 108th in 2011—not an unexpected finish, given that so many of the firm’s 693 lawyers (including 144 equity partners) are based in secondary markets.
While Perkins did suffer a relatively small number of layoffs during the recession, overall the firm performed well during the downturn. Indeed, it ranked seventh on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index, with revenues seeing a compound annual growth rate of 5 percent between 2007 and 2009. And even with the layoffs, overall attorney head count actually increased during those years. With its diversified—and in many ways unique—practice, Perkins, it turned out, wasn’t well positioned only for the good times, but for the bad times, too.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 49 | no change | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 49 | no change | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 47 | 5 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 66 | 5 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 64 | 5 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 34 | 29 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 106 | 37 | Summer programs |
In the News
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 24, 2013
Baker & Hostetler hires a former White House lawyer as a partner; McKenna Long & Aldridge names a new chair to its public finance group; and Wiley Rein expands its environment and safety practice with the addition of a partner in Washington, D.C. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Perkins Coie's Double Identity
Drew Combs : The American Lawyer : May 19, 2013
In fits and starts, the Seattle-based firm saw the benefits of going national.
Law Schools Bolster Clinic Offerings
Tania Karas : New York Law Journal : May 17, 2013
Though the rise of "experiential learning" opportunities such as clinics, practicums and externships has continued for the past decade, the six law schools in New York that are bolstering their clinical courses said their latest offerings cover areas of law that will attract students to their schools and potential employers to their students.
Political Scandal Could Leave IRS Gun Shy
Todd Ruger : The National Law Journal : May 15, 2013
A growing controversy in Washington involving the Internal Revenue Service could mean big changes in the way the agency regulates the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, according to election law experts.
Surging U.S. IPO Market Yields Gains for Cooley, Hunton
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
U.S. companies have already raised $16.8 billion through initial public offerings so far this year and several Am Law 100 firms are reaping the benefits.
Scandal Could Change How IRS Regulates Political Groups
Todd Ruger : The National Law Journal : May 14, 2013
A growing controversy in Washington involving the Internal Revenue Service could mean big changes in the way the agency regulates the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, according to election law experts.
MOVERS
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
Adrienne Pitts joins Baker & McKenzie as partner in the Chicago office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.
Scandal Could Leave IRS 'Gun Shy' With Political Groups
Todd Ruger : The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
A growing controversy in Washington involving the Internal Revenue Service could mean big changes in the way the agency regulates the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, according to election law experts.
Federal Circuit Weighs Patent Sanctions
Vanessa Blum : The Recorder : May 10, 2013
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 10, 2013
Alston & Bird adds four partners to its capital markets department on the East Coast; the vice-chair of Greenberg Traurig's pharmaceutical, medical device, and health care litigation practice has left for Jones Day; and Locke Lord expands its Hong Kong office with five new attorneys. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
- Akerman Senterfitt
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- Arthur Cox
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- Baker & Hostetler
- Baker & McKenzie
- Bingham McCutchen
- Bracewell & Giuliani
- Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
- Brown Rudnick
- Burr & Forman
- Cahill Gordon & Reindel
- Carlton Fields
- Clayton Utz
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
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- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Diamond McCarthy
- Dickinson Wright
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- Freehills
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- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Greenberg Traurig
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- Harris Beach
- Haynes and Boone
- Herbert Smith
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- Hogan Lovells
- Howrey
- Hughes Hubbard & Reed
- Jenner & Block
- Jones Day
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kilpatrick Townsend
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- Kutak Rock
- Lane Powell
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Lowenstein Sandler
- Margolis Edelstein
- McCarter & English
- McDermott Will & Emery
- McKenna Long & Aldridge
- McKool Smith
- Minter Ellison
- Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo
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- Moses & Singer
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- Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus
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- O?Melveny & Myers
- Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel
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- Perkins Coie
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- Potter Anderson & Corroon
- Proskauer Rose
- Pryor Cashman
- Reed Smith
- Richards, Layton & Finger
- Robinson & Cole
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- Seyfarth Shaw
- Shea & Gould
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
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- Simmons & Simmons
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young
- Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
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- White & Case
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- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
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- Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor
