Kaye Scholer is best known in the US for product liability litigation, although the firm claims to have as many lawyers handling transactional corporate matters (including bankruptcy and tax) as litigators.

Indeed, towards the end of the firm's 2006 financial year, Kaye Scholer appeared on one of the year's largest leveraged buyouts, the $15bn (£7.9bn) bid by private equity houses' Apollo Management and Texas Pacific for US casino operator Harrah's Entertainment.

The firm grew revenue by 6 per cent during 2005, but failed to make much headway in the Global 100 chart. Indeed, its total of £210.7m ($383.5m) resulted in a slip of four places in the rankings, from 69 to 73.
Its average profit per equity partner grew by 9 per cent, from £648,000 ($1.18m) to £ 706,000 ($1.29m).

In China, Kaye Scholer shut down its underperforming Hong Kong office in March 2006 in an attempt to focus exclusively on its outpost in Shanghai. The latter office, headed since 1998 by founding partner and corporate specialist Yingxi Fu-Tomlinson, was the first New York-headquartered law firm to obtain approval for an office in Shanghai. Although looking to grow, it remains small, with around 15 legal staff in total.

• The Top 100: 51-75