Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates founded in 1948, is a prominent
law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of
the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. In most jurisdictions,
the firm is organized as a limited liability partnership (LLP). The firm's better-known
alumni include former New York State Governor Elliot Spitzer.
With
$1.85 billion in annual revenue, Skadden is the largest law firm in the
U.S. in terms of revenue. The firm has held this position for nine years running
and in 1999 became the first law firm to exceed US$1 billion in annual revenue.
Its revenue also makes Skadden the third largest law firm in the world, behind
two U.K. firms.
Although the firm has not made any official announcement,
the media have reported Skadden's provisional 2007 revenue at US$2.02
billion.
Skadden has over 2,000 attorneys in 23 offices. The total
number of employees is nearly 4,500. In terms of the number of attorneys, Skadden
is the largest law firm in the state of New York, the fifth largest in the
United States, and the eighth largest in the world. Skadden ranks 225th on Forbes's
list of the largest U.S.-based private companies.
Despite its
size, Skadden has been distinguished by its refusal to expand by mergers with other
law firms or large acquisitions of practice groups. The firm has never acquired
a practice group larger than six attorneys, in sharp contrast with rivals
such as Baker & McKenzie, which has repeatedly absorbed local practices, or DLA
Piper and Clifford Chance, which are the products of large mergers (often across
national and continental borders). |
