Partner-associate leverage

The Responsibility Factor, AKA the partner-associate ratio

The levels of responsibility associates enjoy (or don't) is not easily summarized in a figure; each firm has its own style of work with its own unique responsibilities. This basic ratio showing how much partner exposure each associate gets favors the firms outside Manhattan, but let's remember that the adrenaline-fueled New York market offers associates no end of high-stakes work. So this table gives a basic idea of how a firm staffs its teams, but for a more nuanced perspective, the Inside View merits a read. It also helps you appreciate the likelihood of making partner. 

Firms Partners Associates Leverage
Adam Leitman Bailey 16 9 1.78
Akin Gump 249 218 1.14
Allen & Overy 91 229 0.4
Alston & Bird 372 397 0.94
Arnold & Porter 281 476 0.59
Ashurst 14 24 0.58
Axinn 30 53 0.57
Baker Botts 227 264 0.86
Bracewell 147 142 1.04
Brown Rudnick 104 74 1.41
Cadwalader 109 185 0.59
Cahill 72 155 0.46
Choate 97 106 0.92
Cleary Gottlieb 98 396 0.25
Clifford Chance 83 255 0.33
Cooley 333 736 0.45
Covington & Burling 278 663 0.42
Cozen O'Connor 505 182 2.77
Cravath 100 370 0.27
Crowell & Moring 240 286 0.84
Davis Polk & Wardwell 142 629 0.23
Debevoise & Plimpton 123 512 0.24
Dechert 241 466 0.52
DLA Piper 604 660 0.92
Duane Morris 353 233 1.52
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath 493 391 1.26
Finnegan 111 116 0.96
Fish & Richardson 212 118 1.8
Foley & Lardner 497 470 1.06
Foley Hoag 144 183 0.79
Fox Rothschild 646 287 2.25
Freshfields 65 259 0.25
Fried, Frank 163 484 0.34
Gibson, Dunn 395 1010 0.39
Goodwin 503 799 0.63
Greenberg Glusker      
Greenberg Traurig 1075 823 1.31
Gunderson 118 244 0.48
Haynes and Boone 270 230 1.17
Herbert Smith Freehills 15 27 0.56
Hogan Lovells US 334 471 0.71
Holland & Knight 1097 639 1.72
Holwell Shuster & Goldberg 18 31 0.58
Hunton Andrews Kurth 323 521 161
Irell & Manella 26 31 0.84
Jackson Walker 297 175 1.7
Jenner & Block 203 225 0.9
Jones Day 593 783 0.76
K&L Gates 639 518 1.23
Kasowitz 83 126 0.66
Katten 319 258 1.24
King & Spalding 460 628 0.73
Kirkland 1224 1577 0.78
Kramer Levin 113 224 0.5
Latham & Watkins 663 1671 0.4
Linklaters 36 109 0.33
Mayer Brown 466 523 0.89
McDermott 536 390 1.37
Milbank 126 404 0.31
Mintz Levin 258 272 0.95
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius 651 889 0.73
Morrison & Foerster 251 468 0.54
Munger, Tolles & Olson 88 107 0.82
Nelson Mullins 536 334 1.6
Norton Rose Fulbright 307 299 1.03
O'Melveny 235 470 0.5
Orrick 384 595 0.65
Patterson Belknap 52 87 0.6
Paul Hastings 261 489 0.53
Paul, Weiss 172 625 0.28
Perkins Coie 526 543 0.97
Pillsbury 289 354 0.82
Polsinelli 537 319 1.68
Proskauer Rose 240 389 0.62
Reed Smith 471 453 1.04
Richards, Layton & Finger 77 93 0.83
Ropes & Gray 284 927 0.31
Schulte Roth & Zabel 89 185 0.48
Seward & Kissel 47 76 0.62
Seyfarth Shaw 427 256 1.67
Shearman & Sterling 126 255 0.49
Sheppard, Mullin 404 413 0.98
Sidley Austin 574 1079 0.53
Simpson Thacher 221 800 0.28
Skadden 261 807 0.32
Sterne, Kessler 73 59 1.24
Sullivan & Cromwell 143 447 0.32
Vedder Price 154 131 1.18
Venable 392 294 1.33
Vinson & Elkins 189 381 0.5
Weil 204 573 0.36
Wiley Rein 117 69 1.7
Willkie Farr 284 531 0.53
WilmerHale 253 637 0.4
Wilson Sonsini 279 630 0.44
Winston & Strawn 352 444 0.79

 

Firms not listed did not disclose their headcount numbers.