The top 100 largest law firms with offices in Los Angeles County employ 7,498 attorneys in local offices. That includes 3,215 partners, plus associates, counsel and other staff attorneys.
Firms handle a wide range of industries and work. The top 100 firms work on major practice areas such as litigation, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, labor and employment, intellectual property, real estate, criminal law and niche specialties such as family law, municipal law, and trusts and estates.
Los Angeles-based Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is the top overall firm on the list with 299 attorneys in Los Angeles County. Sheppard Mullin has expanded its real estate practice group, adding 50 attorneys nationally to the 120-person group since 2022. In Los Angeles, it added former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo as a partner in the real estate, energy, land use and environmental practice group in Los Angeles. He joined the firm in March from DLA Piper LLP.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher reported 298 local attorneys, which is one of the largest of its 21 offices worldwide. The firm has more than 1,900 attorneys in total. The top five firms in Los Angeles each have more than 200 attorneys locally, including Latham & Watkins, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Although O’Melveny & Myers was founded in 1885 in Los Angeles, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in 1890 in Los Angeles, and Latham & Watkins was founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, both firms do not recognize a formal headquarters location.
There are some firms that have multiple offices in the area. Typically, large firms may have offices in both Century City and Downtown Los Angeles. The multiple offices typically handle different types of clientele and work with offices in Century City typically handling more entertainment work while central city offices closer to the courthouses can handle litigation work. The top 100 firms have a combined 128 offices in Los Angeles County. There are also larger law offices in Westside neighborhoods such as Westwood and Santa Monica, as well as the South Bay and San Gabriel Valley.
Overall, these 100 firms employ more than 13,000 people in Los Angeles County.
