Latham partners pocket record $8.7mn average pay

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Partners at US law firm Latham & Watkins pocketed $8.65mn on average last year, up by more than a fifth on the previous 12 months, after the firm won mandates on some of the biggest deals and listings of 2025.

Equity partners at Latham, the group of lawyers who share in the firm’s profit pool, saw their average take-home pay increase by 21.3 per cent, up from $7.1mn in 2024, according to the legal giant’s financial results published on Tuesday. Its average profit per equity partner figure of $8.65mn is a record for the firm.

Latham also recorded $8.3bn in revenues, breaking through the $8bn mark for the first time. The record comes just one year after the American law firm surpassed the $7bn revenue threshold.

Top US law firms have posted a strong set of results across the board for 2025, despite a slowdown in private equity activity, after global dealmaking hit $4.5tn last year, the second best year on record. 

Equity partners at Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s biggest law firm and one of Latham’s biggest rivals, took home an average $11.1mn in 2025 and became the first law firm to break through the $10bn revenue barrier.

“Given the pace of change, you have to anticipate shifts and look ahead,” said Richard Trobman, Latham’s chair and managing partner. “This focus has helped establish our firm as the clear leader in cutting-edge, high‑demand areas — from capital strategies to data centres, from AI to fintech.”

Latham’s London office, which the firm has invested in heavily over the past decade, surpassed $1bn in revenues for the first time, according to a person with knowledge of the results.

Among the firm’s key mandates were roles advising Paramount Skydance Corporation on its $111bn pending acquisition of Warner Bros, the largest deal of 2025, and Anglo American on its $50bn merger with Canada’s Teck Resources. The firm also advised the underwriters on medical supply group Medline Industries’ landmark $6.3bn initial public offering, the largest listing last year.

The results come after Latham struck a deal with Donald Trump in April 2025 to avoid being targeted by the president, as he issued punitive executive orders against a group of major law firms. 

Latham, alongside other elite firms, controversially agreed to provide $125mn in pro bono work to causes Trump supports and to avoid what the president described as “illegal” diversity practices in hiring.

Revenue per lawyer at Latham, often considered a more accurate measure of performance than partner profits, increased 14 per cent last year to $2.2mn. Partner profits can fluctuate depending on the size of the partnership.

The total number of lawyers globally grew 4 per cent to 3,724 in the 12-month period.