WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 24 Allen & Overy Founded in 1930, global law firm Allen & Overy “helps the world’s leading businesses to grow, innovate and thrive.” The firm’s founders, George Allen & Thomas Overy, aimed to build a commercial practice, with the firm’s reputation later made as a result of George Allen’s role as adviser to King Edward VII during the abdication crisis. By the beginning of the Second World War, Allen & Overy was well-established as a leading City law firm. Over the decades, Allen & Overy has been involved in several major developments in the legal sector, including the firm’s work as an advisor in the first hostile takeover in London as well as arranging the first Eurobound in the 1960s, leading to the diversification of the firm’s practice from purely commercial to financial. Fast-forward to the present and Allen & Overy advised on 12% more deals than any other law firm globally last year, according to its Global Snapshot for 2021. The firm now has 40+ offices around the world, employs 5,650 people, and saw 26% growth in its number of US partners. 1 2 Cahill Cahill Gordon & Reindel is a New York-based international law firm founded in 1919, initially under the name of McAdoo, Cotton & Franklin. The firm’s early work was primarily in financial and corporate areas, including a large international practice for investment banker clients. By the end of the Great Depression, Cahill had expanded to handle bankruptcies, reorganisations and regulatory matters. However, it was during and after the Second World War that the firm truly began to flourish. In 1942, senior tax partner John Ohl assisted with the drafting of the wartime Excess Profits Tax Act as well as provisions to permit the five-year amortisation of war facilities. In 1943, John T Cahill argued before the Supreme Court on issues regarding chain broadcasting regulations in National Broadcasting Co. v. United States. The case is widely considered to be among the most significant cases ever concerning the authority and influence of the Federal Communication Commission. Today, Cahill maintains offices in London, Washington DC and New York City, employing around 278 attorneys. In 2020, the firm saw gross revenue of $444,400,000 and was placed 91st on The American Lawyer’s 2021 Am Law 200 ranking. Over the past handful of years, the salaries of legal professionals have gone up considerably at top-paying firms. As firms compete for the best talent, differences between salaries are slight – if existent at all. However, according to US News, the median salary of a lawyer in the US sat at $126,930 in 2020, meaning these firms, alongside others such as Cooley, Cravath, Fish & Richardson and Holwell Shuster, are offering their first-year employees almost double the professions average national salary. But how did these top paying law firms become so successful?
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