Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
- Designation: Los Angeles
- Head Count: 521
- Gross Revenues: $437,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $840,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,265,000
- Year Over Year Change: 4
If there is any firm that makes law seem like a glamour job, it’s Los Angeles’s Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. The firm has a widely known entertainment practice (largely based out of its Century City office) that represents major studios, media companies, television networks, and production companies in all manner of financing, licensing, and new media deals. Then there is the firm’s video game team. No, these lawyers don’t play Halo all day, but they do advise on the intellectual property, employment, licensing, and litigation issues that game companies have.
Of course, there is the more traditional work, too, and Sheppard has done plenty of it, tweaking its practice over the years to capitalize on emerging trends and growing markets. First there were the banks and retailers who formed the core of the firm’s client base in the decades after its 1927 founding. Then, in the 1990s, came an increased focus on aerospace and defense (Northrop Grumman Corporation is a client) and real estate.
More recently, the focus has been on expanding the firm’s footprint on a global scale. For years, Sheppard was mainly known as a California firm (it has eight offices within that state). In 2003 it branched out to the East Coast, opening offices in Washington, D.C., and in New York, and in 2007 it took its biggest—and furthest—step, with an outpost in Shanghai. Doubling down on its bet on global markets, Sheppard launched additional offices in Beijing, Brussels, and London in 2011. In Beijing the focus is on guiding clients on M&A and investment opportunities. In London, cross–border transactions constitute a big chunk of the office’s assignments.
While Sheppard suffered some layoffs during the financial crisis, morale among lawyers has traditionally been good. The firm ranked thirty–eighth of 137 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2010 Midlevel Associates Survey, and forty–third of 126 firms in 2011. Sheppard is not one of the most diverse law firms in the country, ranking seventy–ninth of 194 firms on our 2011 survey of the Am Law 200 firms (just 7 percent of U.S.–based partners are minorities). But with its Hollywood connections and video game transactions, it certainly has one of the more diverse practices.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 67 | 4 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 67 | 4 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 79 | 9 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 68 | 83 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 38 | 41 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 43 | 5 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 21 | 8 | Summer programs |
In the News
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 21, 2013
K&L Gates hires two renewable energy partners in Portland; King & Spalding poaches from Bird & Bird to establish a London trade practice; and a fourth Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft partner leaves the firm for O'Melveny & Myers. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Sheppard Mullin Adds to Silicon Valley Office
Max Taves : The Recorder : May 20, 2013
Sheppard Mullin has added a corporate partner to its Silicon Valley office. Jung Son joins from Technology Crossover Ventures, where she was an associate general counsel. Sheppard, which lost three Palo Alto corporate partners this year, has plans to hire additional attorneys for the office, said corporate partner David Lee.
Sheppard Mullin's Seoul Ambitions
Tom Brennan : The Asian Lawyer : May 20, 2013
The Los Angeles firm has publicly stated its aim to have a Seoul office of as many as 150 lawyers and to practice Korean law as soon as it can. Can Sheppard Mullin really make itself a leader in an ultracompetitive market?
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.
Sheppard Adds to Valley Office
Max Taves : The Recorder : May 16, 2013
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.
Sheppard Mullin Eyed for New Orleans Cop Monitor Role
Drew Combs : The Am Law Daily : May 13, 2013
As one of two finalists bidding to oversee a sweeping effort to reform the scandal-scarred New Orleans Police Department under a 2012 federal consent decree, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton has a lot going for it—including the support of the U.S. Justice Department.
D.C. MOVES
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 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.
Firms Use Apps to Burnish Their Brands
Julia Love : The Recorder : May 8, 2013
Clients looking to learn more about the anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws overseas don't need to track down their lawyers. They can just whip out their smartphones.
- Adams and Reese
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Arent Fox
- Arthur Cox
- Baker & McKenzie
- Buist Moore
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Heller Ehrman
- Howrey
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jenner & Block
- K&L Gates
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- Moore & Van Allen
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
- Nexsen Pruet
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Perkins Coie
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Ruden McClosky
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Slaughter and May
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
