First thing we do is count all the lawyers.
This week’s Business Journal list of the top law firms in Orange County ranked by number of attorneys here show about 2,700 spread across 88 firms, from No. 1 Knobbe Martens with more than 150 to the four firms tied at No. 85, which have 10 apiece, the cutoff for being ranked this year.
The attorney employment total for all firms is just 0.9% higher year-over-year—about 25 positions, or the equivalent of two additional 10-spot firms on the list.
It’s a diverse group by size with two firms topping 100 attorneys—Knobbe and No. 2 Rutan & Tucker, with about 140—nine more with 50 or more, and the remaining 76 firms split about evenly between 25 to 50 attorneys and 10 to 25 (for more data, see page 28).
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP and Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC swapped places from last year: Sheppard Mullin moved to No. 3 after it went from 80 to 83 attorneys; Stradling to No. 4 after it went from 83 to 79.
Last year’s No. 5 repeated in the same position this year: Latham & Watkins LLP with 73 attorneys.
OC partner count grew a little more than 2% to about 1,250—partners are included in the attorney total, which means just less than half of OC attorneys at the biggest firms are partners—and employees overall climbed at a similar rate to a tick mark above 5,250—which means just over half of all law firm workers are attorneys.
Changes
But the more things stay essentially the same the more they can change at a deeper level.
Several law firms on the list rose or fell by double-digit percentages in the last year.
Among larger firms:
• Latham barely missed a double-digit jump, growing at a 9% clip
• No. 6 Bremer, Whyte, Brown & O’Meara LLP added 11 attorneys for 18% growth
• No. 13 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP added 16 attorneys, for 53% growth
Morgan Lewis’ bump came from acquiring the intellectual property group of McDermott Will & Emery LLP—no longer listed—and vaulted the global player, which counts former congressman Christopher Cox and high-powered sports executive Jeff Moorad among its ranks, up 18 places on the list (see story, page 18).
Other firms growing more than 20% include:
• No. 18 Jackson Lewis, up 25% to 40 attorneys
• No. 35 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, up 22% to 28 attorneys
• No. 49 Bohm Wildish & Matsen LLP, up 29% to 22 attorneys
About a dozen firms reported double-digit declines including:
• No. 57 Prenovost, Normandin, Bergh & Dawe APC, was down 22% to 18 attorneys, while No. 70 K&L Gates LLP declined 26% to 14 attorneys, and No. 80 Michelman & Robinson LLP dropped 20% to 12 attorneys here.
Notable
The biggest percentage jump—117%—was recorded by Pepper Hamilton LLP’s Irvine office, which joined the list at No. 76 after not being ranked last year.
Among its additions in the last year was trial lawyer Howard Privette, who came aboard in November from No. 79 Greenberg Gross LLP where he was managing partner of its L.A. office and chaired the firm’s class action practice.
This year’s ranking includes a half-dozen or so firms not on last year’s list, including No. 85, Aitken Aitken Cohn, which added one attorney to pass the bar for Business Journal recognition on this week’s list.
