The California 50

      Among California's largest law firms, it remains a small, small world-at least at the very top. In fact, when it comes to the top five positions on our California 50 survey, little has changed over the past several years. For example, Latham & Watkins and Morrison & Foerster have been the two largest law firms in the state since 2002. This year Latham reclaims its number one position, trading places with Morrison & Foerster, which held the top position for the past three years. Since 2003 O'Melveny & Myers has occupied the number three ranking and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati number four. Among the top five, though, there was one notable change: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton jumped up four spots to number five this year, replacing Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith (which dropped to sixth).
     
      Other big movers were Jones Day; Munger, Tolles & Olson; and Townsend and Townsend and Crew, each moving up five positions. And two firms, Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin and Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, dropped off the list altogether, making room for Baker & McKenzie-our newest addition.
     
      Meanwhile, hiring rates for the California 50 remain fairly flat: A mere 324 more California lawyers found gainful employment so far this year than were employed as of September 2005 by the biggest 50 firms-a 3 percent increase. That's a grand total of 12,280 for this year, up from 11,956.
     
      As for achieving gender equity and diversity among partners, progress among the California 50 also appears to be less than spectacular. Last year, the five firms with the highest percentage of women partners (Foley & Lardner; Sidley Austin; Littler Mendelson; Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi; and Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott) averaged 27 percent women partners; this year's top five (Baker & McKenzie; Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal; Littler Mendelson; Sidley Austin; and Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi) average 30 percent women partners. Back in 1992, however, our California 50 reported an average of 22 percent women partners among the top five firms with the highest percentage of women partners (Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Robertson & Falk; Littler, Mendelson, Fastiff, Tichy & Mathiason; Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon; Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman & Machtinger; and Manatt, Phelps, Phillips & Kantor). That's a 36 percent increase in 14 years, but an absolute gain of only eight percentage points.
     
      The situation for minorities is similar. Last year's top five firms with the highest percentage of minority partners (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Kirkland & Ellis; Sidley Austin; McDermott Will & Emery; and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges) had an average of 17 percent minority partners; this year's top five (Baker & McKenzie; Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal; McDermott Will & Emery; Kirkland & Ellis; and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) average 21 percent minority partners. Back in 1992, the top five firms with the highest percentage of minority partners (Baker & McKenzie; Munger, Tolles & Olson; Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard; Ropers, Majeski, Kohn, Bentley, Wagner & Kane; and Graham & James) averaged 12 percent minority partners-an impressive 75 percent growth rate in 14 years, but in absolute terms a sluggish nine percentage point gain.
     
      Because some of these law firms are in various stages of their recruitment and retention programs, it may take a few years for these percentages to increase, if, indeed, they ever do.
     

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