| Turnover: | £304.4m |
| Profit per equity partner: | £681,000 |
| Revenue per lawyer: | £420,000 |
| Total number of lawyers: | 732 |
The inexorable rise of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe continued in 2005. The year began with a five-partner raid on Heller Ehrman, which reunited Orrick with five founding partners of Silicon Valley's Venture Law Group (VLG). Orrick and VLG had a longstanding referral relationship before the latter merged with Heller Ehrman.
It then stepped up a gear with the capture of Coudert Partners' London and Moscow offices, a move which precipitated the dissolution of Coudert during 2005 and 2006.
Orrick continued its M&A frenzy by snapping up French independent Rambaud Martel before sealing a deal for the majority of Coudert's well-respected Chinese offices.
Revenue grew by 14.5 per cent to £304.4m ($554m) by the end of 2005. The firm has managed to keep average profit per equity partner moving in the right direction too; it rose by 13.8 per cent to £681,000 ($1.24m).
The Coudert China raid brought a fully fledged Chinese operation to Orrick. But it also brought a share of problems, as Coudert's former boss in the region, Jingzhou Tao, chose to join DLA Piper, triggering some tension, while the Chinese government closely scrutinised the Orrick-Coudert China merger.
Orrick continued its global growth strategy in to 2006 by announcing a merger with New York's Dewey Ballantine, which is expected to close by the beginning of 2007.
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