Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Shearman & Sterling LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Shearman & Sterling
- Designation: International
- Head Count: 842
- Gross Revenues: $752,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $895,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,520,000
- Year Over Year Change: 1
Shearman & Sterling isn’t just one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished law firms, it’s also one of its most resilient. How else to describe a firm that took so many hits during the recession—by 2011, its net income, gross revenue, profits per partner, and head count lagged 2007 levels—yet still earned a spot on The American Lawyer’s A–List for 2011, a designation limited to just 20 premier firms?
It wasn’t Shearman’s first time on the list, either. Unlike many of its New York peers, the firm has built a reputation as a well–rounded legal powerhouse: While there is an emphasis on hard work—and a lot of it—the firm also regularly posts above average grades for pro bono (eighteenth in 2011), diversity (twenty–ninth in 2011), and associate satisfaction (sixtieth of 126 firms in 2011, but remember, this is Manhattan). Its scores dropped a bit during the downturn, but that they still managed to top so many firms—even as Shearman placed seventy–third of 84 firms on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index—is a significant achievement.
Of course, when you’ve been around since 1873, you’ve had some experience with hard times. You also have a track record, too, and Shearman’s is compelling: It helped The Ford Motor Company go public, represented Cadbury in its $19.4 billion acquisition by Kraft, and advised Suncor Energy in its $15.8 billion merger with Petro–Canada. One upside to the economic meltdown was that it kept Shearman’s litigators busy. Indeed, their work representing the remnants of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., in litigation over its merger with Bank of America Corporation and in ERISA class actions helped earn the firm an honorable mention in The American Lawyer’s 2010 Litigation Department of the Year contest. Shearman’s numbers may have flagged during the recession but its status as one of the country’s top law firms remained firmly intact.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 35 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 35 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 34 | 1 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | 18 | no change | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 18 | 8 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 21 | 8 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 60 | 19 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 75 | 12 | Summer programs |
In the News
Asia Deal Digest: May 23, 2013
Jessica Seah : The Asian Lawyer : May 23, 2013
* China's State Grid turns to Linklaters and Allens for Australia buying spree* Clifford Chance and Allen & Gledhill on Singapore's second-biggest IPO this year* Ropes & Gray and Cleary guide Blackstone-led consortium on $680 million Pactera take-private bid
Six Am Law Firms Help Bring Big League Soccer to NYC
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 22, 2013
Doing their part to launch a surefire local rivalry for Major League Soccer's New Jersey-based New York Red Bulls, Akin Gump, DLA Piper, Herrick Feinstein, and Paul Hastings all landed roles on the $100 million deal announced this week to create the New York City Football Club. The new team, a joint venture between Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and the English Premier League's Manchester City F.C., could ultimately move into a $340 million stadium that MLS and its lawyers from Fried Frank and Proskauer Rose hope to see completed by 2016.
Pandit Redux: Ex-Citi Boss Taps Davis Polk for Comeback
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Davis Polk & Wardwell is advising former Citigroup boss Vikram Pandit, who was forced out as head of the global banking giant last year, on his return to the financial services industry through his investment in India's JM Financial Group.
Kirkland Reps S.F.'s Vista on $906M Buy of Software Maker
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Three Deals Add Up to More M&A Work for Kirkland
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Kirkland & Ellis is advising longtime private equity client Vista Equity Partners on its nearly $1 billion purchase of cybersecurity software maker Websense, while fellow private equity firm Landmark Partners is relying on the firm to handle a $425 million secondary acquisition of a legacy energy portfolio owned by HM Capital. Kirkland is also advising the world's largest consulting firm, Accenture, on its $316 million buy of digital marketing startup Acquity Group.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 17, 2013
Andrews Kurth heads to London; Bingham McCutchen grabs seven lawyers in Tokyo; and a Munger, Tolles & Olson partner plans a move to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Asia Deal Digest: May 16, 2013
Tom Brennan : The Asian Lawyer : May 16, 2013
* Davis Polk on a $4 billion bond offering for China's CNOOC* Allen & Overy advising Sinopec Engineering on its $2.7 billion IPO* Four Wall Street firms take on AsiaInfo-Linkage's $890 million take-private deal
Am Law Firms Aboard as Leagues Sink Kings, Coyotes Deals
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 16, 2013
Lawyers from Covington, Katten Muchin, and Milbank were watching closely Wednesday as owners of the National Basketball Association's 30 teams voted against a $625 million deal that would have sent the Sacramento Kings north to Seattle. Meanwhile, in a move that might result in another major sports team heading to the Pacific Northwest, the National Hockey League and its attorneys from Skadden nixed a $278 million bid for the Phoenix Coyotes.
DISH Selling Debt Ahead of Possible Sprint Deal
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : May 15, 2013
A month after shaking up the telecommunications industry by making a $25.5 billion bid to acquire Sprint Nextel, DISH Network has announced a $2.5 billion debt offering meant to help finance part of the proposed deal. Sullivan & Cromwell has been brought in to advise DISH on the debt offering while White & Case is working on the takeover.
Kirkland Cleans Up on PE Shop's $1.4 Billion Buy
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 15, 2013
Kirkland & Ellis clinched its latest large M&A deal on Wednesday as private equity client Pamplona Capital Management acquired the largest laundry equipment service provider in the U.S., as well as a leading automobile tire inflation service.
- Adams and Reese
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Allen & Overy
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Arthur Cox
- Ashurst
- Baker & McKenzie
- Brown Rudnick
- Buist Moore
- Cahill Gordon & Reindel
- Clayton Utz
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Diamond McCarthy
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Dorsey & Whitney
- Dreier LLP
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Freehills
- Freshfields
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Herbert Smith
- Herrick, Feinstein
- Hogan Lovells
- Howrey
- Jenner & Block
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- McKool Smith
- Minter Ellison
- Moore & Van Allen
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Morrison & Foerster
- Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
- Nexsen Pruet
- Nixon Peabody
- Norton Rose
- O?Melveny & Myers
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Ruden McClosky
- Shea & Gould
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simmons & Simmons
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- White & Case
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
