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Last July, in my analysis of the 2025 Am Law 200 rankings, I pointed out something unusual: the firms that The American Lawyer refers to as the “Second Hundred,” the nation’s #101 to #200 firms ranked by revenue, outpaced their Am Law 100 brethren in two key financial metrics. In 2024, the Second Hundred collectively grew revenue per lawyer by 8.6% and profits per equity partner by 12.6%, while the Am Law 100 improved RPL by 5.2% and PEP by 12.3%.
In the 2026 Am Law 200 rankings, based on 2025 financial performance, things reverted to the historical trend—in which the Am Law 100, the nation’s largest and most profitable firms, put more distance between themselves and the competition. Here’s how the Second Hundred fared last year:
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Total revenue: $29.4 billion, up 6%.
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Revenue per lawyer (RPL): $895,000, up 5.2%.
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Profits per equity partner (PEP): $1.208 million, up 9.5%.
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Total headcount: 32,903, up 0.7%.
On the bright side, the Second Hundred’s revenue, RPL, and PEP growth outstripped inflation in 2025, which hovered around 2.7% last year. But these firms fell short of how they performed in 2024, as well as what the Am Law 100 posted in 2025: revenue up by 13%, RPL up by 8.7%, PEP up by 14%, and headcount up by 4%.
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As strategic adviser Kent Zimmermann, co-chair of the Zeughauser Group, explained to Brenda Sapino Jeffreys of The American Lawyer, “The rate of growth in the Second Hundred is lower on most of the key metrics, and those firms are starting off on a lower base—thereby creating a widening gap between the Second Hundred and the Top 100 on both size and profitability.”
This gives rise to what Zimmermann called a “talent advantage” for the Am Law 100: because of their stronger finances, they can offer bigger pay packages to attract top partners. These partners, bringing their talents and books of business, increase the profitability of the Am Law 100 relative to the Second Hundred—possibly creating a vicious cycle for the latter group, in which they fall more and more behind.
And if AI becomes a powerful differentiator in Biglaw, the divide between the Am Law 100 and the Second Hundred could expand even more. Why? AI is expensive. Kirkland & Ellis announced a plan to invest $500 million in AI over the next three to four years—which no firm in the Second Hundred has the ability to do. As Kirkland and other Am Law 100 firms pour more money into AI, and as those investments start to pay off, they could put even more distance between themselves and the Second Hundred.
Speaking of Kirkland, here’s an interesting point of comparison that captures the gap between the Am Law 100 and the Second Hundred. In 2025, K&E posted revenue of $10.556 billion—while the Second Hundred firms, collectively, generated $29.4 billion. Put another way, Kirkland alone generated revenue last year equal to 35.9% of the total revenue of the Second Hundred, a group of 100 firms.
Now let’s talk about specific firms. Because the Am Law 200 is a revenue-based ranking, let’s start with that metric.
Here are the top 10 firms in the Second Hundred, i.e., the firms ranked #101 to #110 in gross revenue (for the full list, check out The American Lawyer):