This post has been updated with The Lawyer’s 2020 ranking of the top 50 US law firms in London by revenue.
This year’s report shows Kirkland and Latham still topping the bill with UK revenue of $445m and $430m respectively, but that Kirkland has widened the gap, which was just $5m the previous year.
Combined revenues generated by the 50 largest US law firms in the UK rose by 6.1 per cent, The Lawyer data reveals. The group increased its combined total fee income from $5.678bn to just over $6bn. While impressive, this growth rate is less than half of the 13 per cent the Top 50 achieved in 2018.
This year’s US Top 50 Firms in London report has one new entry – global immigration boutique Fragomen.
Top 50 US law firms in London by revenue
| Rank 2020 | Firm name | UK revenue ($m) |
| 1 | Kirkland & Ellis | 445 |
| 2 | Latham & Watkins | 430 |
| 3 | White & Case | 337 |
| 4 | Baker McKenzie | 307.8 |
| 5 | Dentons | 249.1 |
| 6 | Skadden | 225 |
| 7 | Reed Smith | 215 |
| 8 | Simpson Thacher | 200.6 |
| 9 | Weil | 185 |
| 10 | Mayer Brown | 184.8 |
| 11 | Shearman & Sterling | 182.4 |
| 12 | Milbank | 171.2 |
| 13 | Squire Patton Boggs | 163.5 |
| 14 | Debevoise & Plimpton | 151.7 |
| 15 | Dechert | 149.5 |
| 16 | Cleary Gottlieb | 135 |
| 17 | Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan | 128.5 |
| 18 | Sidley Austin | 125.2 |
| 19 | Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld | 125.1 |
| 20 | Jones Day | 120 |
| 21 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 116 |
| 22 | Paul Hastings | 107.2 |
| 23 | Covington & Burling | 101.2 |
| 24 | Gibson Dunn | 91.8 |
| 25 | Ropes & Gray | 88 |
| 26 | Morgan Lewis | 83 |
| 27 | Proskauer | 81.4 |
| 28 | Davis Polk | 77 |
| 29 | Goodwin Procter | 74 |
| 30 | Cooley | 72.9 |
| 31 | K&L Gates | 62.6 |
| 32 | Willkie Farr & Gallagher | 60 |
| 33 | Vinson & Elkins | 59 |
| 34 | Fried Frank | 58 |
| 35 | King & Spalding | 55.7 |
| 36 | Brown Rudnick | 54.5 |
| 37= | WilmerHale | 53 |
| 37= | Orrick | 53 |
| 39 | Morrison & Foerster | 49.3 |
| 40 | Arnold & Porter | 48 |
| 41 | McDermott Will & Emery | 47 |
| 42 | Fragomen | 44 |
| 43 | Paul Weiss | 43 |
| 44 | Greenberg Traurig | 42.2 |
| 45 | Cadwalader | 41.3 |
| 46 | Baker Botts | 40 |
| 47 | Winston & Strawn | 37 |
| 48 | Pillsbury | 26 |
| 49 | McGuireWoods | 24 |
| 50 | Boies Schiller Flexner | 22.2 |
More news and analysis about the top US law firms in London
- How the US firms are stealing a march on their UK rivals
- Learn more about this year’s new entry to the US Top 50 ranking
- Which US firms lead the way for RPL
- Which US firms are promoting young Brits in greater numbers
OUT NOW: The 2019 edition of The US Top 50 Firms in London is out now.
- Monitor the impact on the London market of the investment made by US firms.
- Investigate which practice areas firms are targeting for 2020/21.
- Discover the underlying market dynamics that will shape the London legal market in 2020/21.
