We are quickly approaching the end of Q2 2014 and heading into summer, but the open sky in which BigLaw flies is not likely to provide much rest and relaxation during the warmer months ahead. Relentless market winds offer constant opportunity to our stronger firms to increasingly distance themselves from their less healthy competitors, in particular those simply getting bigger.

A cursory comparison of the AmFlawed 100 ranking chart of America’s top-grossing law firms for the years 2009 and 2013 shows that while only two firms in 2009 exceeded gross revenue of $2 billion (Baker & McKenzie at $2,112,000,000 followed closely by Skadden at $2,100,000,000), five firms surpassed the $2 billion gross revenue mark in 2013: DLA at $2,481,000,000, followed by Baker & McKenzie at $2,419,000,000, Latham at $2,285,000,000, Skadden at $2,235,000,000 and Kirkland & Ellis at $2,016,000,000 — DLA’s jump to the lead of the pack in 2013 representing a more than doubling of their 2009 13th place finish of $1,014,500,000. Moreover, while in 2009 a total of 13 firms enjoyed gross revenue in excess of $1 billion, by 2013 almost double that number or 23 firms had surpassed the $1 billion barrier.

These gross revenue figures indicate an unabated urge to grow bigger presumably based on the premise that one-stop global shopping is an attractive marketing tool in the increasingly interconnected global business environment. While that may be true, big of course is not necessarily strong or healthy; the five most productive firms based on purported revenue-per-lawyer figures ranking only between 13th and 54th on the gross revenue chart, namely: 1) Wachtell, first in RPL at $2,310,000 but only 54th in gross revenue at $601,000,000; 2) Sullivan & Cromwell, second in RPL at $1,590,000 but 13th in gross revenue at $1,278,000,000; 3) Quinn Emanuel, third in RPL at $1,445,000 but 26th in gross revenue at $972,5000,000; 4) Cravath, fourth in RPL at $1,430,000 but only 52nd in gross revenue at $614,000,000; and 5) Simpson Thacher, fifth in RPL at $1,350,000 but 20th in gross revenue at $1,128,500,000.   While the saga of Dewey & LeBoeuf – which ranked towards the top of the AmFlawed chart in all categories across the board the very year they collapsed – dictates that the chart need be taken with salt, it also evidences the fact that big sometimes means dangerously obese but never in and of itself healthy.

That said, we at Hanover Legal always caution our candidates considering a new firm to focus on its health – not its rankings on the AmFlawed 100 chart.