Description
Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2021, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world, with profits per partner exceeding US$4.5 million.
History
The firm was founded in January 1934 in Los Angeles, California by Dana Latham and Paul Watkins. 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. At first, the firm grew slowly, with only 19 attorneys employed as of 1960. Beginning in the 1970s, the firm began growing 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 18 international offices spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East.
The company is known for lobbying and litigating against actions to mitigate climate change. According to one scorecard of law firms, "Latham & Watkins is the only firm to be in the Top 5 Worst Firms for both transactions and litigation exacerbating climate change."
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. At a time when many firms were conducting layoffs, the term "Lathamed" became legal slang for being laid off.
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. The firm claims it is the only fully integrated multinational law firm with no single headquarters. In 2007, Latham became the first American law firm to attain more than $2 billion in yearly revenue, and in 2018, it was the first law firm to report more than US$3 billion in gross revenue. It was briefly the highest-grossing law firm in the world, but has since lost the number one spot to Kirkland & Ellis.
