The Golden Age of Growth for Big Law: Can It Be Sustained?

 From about 2006 through 2024 there had been wild growth for some large law firms. As the American Lawyer and Bloomberg Law document, it was a golden age. In the front lines of that has been Paul, Weiss whose revenue went from $594 million to $2.6 billion. 

Firms, though, which couldn't keep up with the pace, such as Cadwalader, entered a downward trajectory. To prevent become extinct Cadwalader is merging. However, that survival move, as Bloomberg Law explains, might not represent the best of solutions to recapture momentum:

"About two-thirds of the 18 largest mergers within the past 15 years saw the combined firms increase profits per partner, and revenue per lawyer, at a slower rate than competitors."

 So, here Big Law is, entering 2026 and a key challenge is to sustain growth - better yet, ramp it up even more. It was way back in 2021 that Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp made explicit in a Bloomberg Law interview the either/or situation for law firms: Grow or go out of the business. Obviously, given the example of Cadwalader, Karp had sized up the game.

What are Paul, Weiss' options for continuing its own growth? They include:

Boosting market share. That can be done by grabbing business from other firms. A simple way to do that is to poach the rainmakers with books of business. A more complex strategy is to enter new categories of practice. The firm was an early entrant into creating a formal AI practice, along with a provocative podcast "Waking Up with AI." 

Motivating its lawyers to invest more in the firm. That's a typical tactic for self-funding.

Increasing fees. This law firm has the credibility in high-stakes legal issues to do that. However, in this AI era there are clients who anticipate lower fees because of boosted productivity. 

Allowing outside funding. That could mean letting in private equity. McDermott is considering that. Dentons shocked several years ago when it turned to outside sources to finance its expansion into advisory services. There's also litigation financing. That was done by Charles Harder in "Hogan v Gawker."

Doing a merger. Given its war chest, it would be entering from a position of strength. That is, it could dictate the terms and conditions. Suppose it wanted to enter a specialty kind of law and bypass growing that organically? Just acquire that firm. Historically it went after an objective, such as increasing its amount of business with Apollo, by poaching a whole team from O'Melveny & Myers.

Since he was voted in as chair in 2008, Karp has unleashed bold strategies. He could be full of more surprises in 2026. 

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