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Latham & Watkins

"L&W" redirects here. For the British publishing company, see Lawrence and Wishart.
Latham & Watkins LLP
TypeLimited liability partnership
IndustryLegal services
Founded1934
Headquarters
United States Edit this on Wikidata
Key people
Richard Trobman, Chair and Managing Partner
ProductsLegal services
RevenueIncrease US$ 3.8 billion (November 2020)
Number of employees
~4,500
Websitewww.lw.com

Latham & Watkins LLP is an American law firm founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California. In 2007, Latham became the first American law firm to surpass $2 billion in annual revenue and then, in 2018, it became the first American law firm to surpass $3 billion in annual revenue as well.[1][2] As of November 2020, the firm had approximately 4,500 employees with approximately $3.8 billion in annual revenue.[3] In 2015, the firm was briefly the highest grossing law firm in the world. [4][5]

History

Dana Latham and Paul Watkins founded Latham & Watkins in January 1934 in Los Angeles, California. Latham's practice focused on state and federal tax law and he eventually served as Commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service under President Dwight Eisenhower. Watkins's practice focused primarily on labor. The firm grew slowly, with only 19 attorneys employed as of 1960.[6] Beginning in the 1970s, the firm grew rapidly, opening new offices in Orange County, Washington D.C., San Diego, Chicago, and New York. In the 1990, the firm opened its first international office in London. Since then, it has continued to expand internationally with new offices in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

In 2009, the firm gained notoriety in the midst of the global recession when it laid off 190 lawyers and 250 paralegal and support staff, representing twelve percent of the firm's total associates and ten percent of the support staff.[7] At a time when many firms were conducting layoffs, the term "Lathamed" became legal slang for being laid off.[8]

In 2018, chairman & firm managing partner William Voge announced that he would step down after engaging in sexually explicit communications with a woman he had never met.[9] The event was considered Latham's "first major public scandal."[10]

Despite being founded in Los Angeles, Latham's largest office is now in New York City, with more than 450 lawyers as of February 2021.[11] The firm claims it is the only fully integrated multinational law firm with no single headquarters.[12] In 2007, Latham & Watkins became the first American law firm to attain more than $2 billion in yearly revenue, and in 2015, the firm surpassed the likes of DLA Piper, Baker & McKenzie and Skadden to become the highest-grossing law firm in the world for the first time.[13][14] Since then, Latham was the first law firm to report surpassing US$3 billion in gross revenue in 2018 but lost the spot as the world's top-grossing law firm that same year to Kirkland & Ellis.[15][16]

Reputation and compensation

Latham was ranked as the #1 firm in the Am Law 100 rankings for 2017.[17] In 2015, the firm received 31 top ten rankings across a range of corporate and finance categories in The American Lawyer's 2015 rankings. The results included four #1 rankings in the areas of high-yield debt, IPOs and equity investments, with strong results in other practices, including M&A, project finance, bankruptcy and REITs.[18] Dubbed an "A-List All-Star" by The American Lawyer, the firm is one of three firms to appear on the A-List each year since its inception in 2003.[19] Latham garnered the most Tier 1 rankings in the US market, across its transactional, disputes and regulatory practices in The Legal 500 US 2014.[19] Vault.com, named Latham one of the top five most prestigious firms in the United States.[20] Forbes describes the firm as a "giant" in mergers & acquisitions as well as private equity.[3]

Latham is also recognized as one of the highest-paying law firms in the world with profits per partner in recent years exceeding US$2.9 million.[21]

Notable attorneys

See also

  • List of largest law firms by profits per partner

References

  1. ^ Jones, Ashby (February 11, 2008). "Latham & Watkins Breaks $2 Billion Revenue Barrier". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Strom, Roy (February 22, 2018). "Latham & Watkins Makes History with $3 Billion in Revenue". Law.com. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Latham & Watkins". Forbes. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Ashby Jones, "Latham & Watkins Breaks $2 Billion Revenue Barrier", Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008.
  5. ^ Jones, Ashby (April 27, 2015). "Latham & Watkins Tops the AmLaw 100 For the First Time". WSJ Law Blog. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  6. ^ Latham.com Archived July 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  7. ^ Haynes, V. Dion (February 28, 2009). "Latham & Watkins Cuts 190 Lawyers". Washington Post. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  8. ^ Mystal, Elie (June 14, 2010). "How Did Latham Become the Poster Child for Layoffs?". Above the Law. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  9. ^ Reisman, Sam (March 20, 2018). "EXCLUSIVE: Behind The Downfall Of Latham's Chairman". Law360. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  10. ^ "Latham & Watkins". The Lawyer. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  11. ^ https://www.lw.com/offices/newyork
  12. ^ http://lw.com/upload/pubContent/_pdf/pub2219_1.pdf
  13. ^ Ashby Jones, "Latham & Watkins Breaks $2 Billion Revenue Barrier", Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008.
  14. ^ Jones, Ashby (April 27, 2015). "Latham & Watkins Tops the AmLaw 100 For the First Time". WSJ Law Blog. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  15. ^ "Kirkland Overtakes Latham as World's Biggest Firm by Revenue | The American Lawyer". The American Lawyer. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  16. ^ Rubino, Kathryn. "Behold: The First Firm To Crack $3 Billion In Revenue". Above the Law. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  17. ^ Lat, David. "The 2017 Am Law 100: A Turning Point For Biglaw?".
  18. ^ "Latham & Watkins LLP - About Us - Awards & Rankings - Firm Receives Most Tier 1 Rankings in US Market".
  19. ^ a b "Latham & Watkins LLP-Company Profile-Vault.com". vault.com.
  20. ^ "Vault.com|Vault Law 100". Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  21. ^ "The Am Law 100: Growth Slows at Latham & Watkins". Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  22. ^ "Dana Latham, 75, Former Head Of the Internal Revenue, Is Dead (Published 1974)". The New York Times. February 9, 1974. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  23. ^ "Charles Courtenay".
  24. ^ "Homeland Security". Archived from the original on October 10, 2006. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  25. ^ https://www.lw.com/people/kathrynruemmler
  26. ^ "Latham & Watkins Thomas J. Heiden Latham & Watkins". legal500.com. Retrieved September 12, 2020.

External links

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