There are many different and exciting ways to rank law firms. How prestigious are they? How much money are they making? How much do partners earn? How much are associates earning in cash compensation? How big are they?
Yes, size matters, and because the legal profession is obsessed with every single measurable and quantifiable factor law firms have to offer, there’s obviously a ranking for that.
So, which Biglaw firm is the biggest of them all?
Earlier this week, the National Law Journal unleashed its annual NLJ 500, a ranking of largest law firms in the United States covering the previous calendar year. If you’ve ever wondered about precise law firm headcounts, this is the ranking for you.
These are the 10 largest law firms in America, according to NLJ, along with some insights on the list:
Dentons
DLA Piper
Baker McKenzie
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Norton Rose Fulbright
Hogan Lovells
Greenberg Traurig
White & Case
Jones Day
As a whole, the total number of attorneys at NLJ 500 firms rose 5.5% in 2024 compared with 2023. And the average firm size for the NLJ 500 cohort rose, increasing 5.6% from 376 to 396.
The 2024 growth is on top of the gains made in 2023, when the total number of attorneys at NLJ 500 firms increased by 2.3% from 2022. …
The accelerated head count growth last year came amid a 13% rise in gross revenue for Am Law 100 law firms last year and a nearly 11% rise in revenue for Second Hundred firms, American Lawyer reported.
Click here to see the NLJ’s full list of the 500 largest law firms in the country.
Congratulations go out to Dentons for employing more lawyers than any other firm. This firm wins the award for putting the “big” in Biglaw — and managed to elbow DLA Piper out of a repeat top title. Give a round of applause to the rest of the Top 10 for keeping their Biglaw firms bigger than all the rest. As for every other firm, keep growing and someday you’ll be a Biglaw behemoth too.
The 2025 NLJ 500: Ranked by Head Count [National Law Journal]
The 2025 NLJ 500: After Head Count Growth Exploded in 2024, Law Firms Pull in the Reins [National Law Journal]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
