Making a List, Checking It Twice, Who Was the Best Poacher, Who Got Poached - Big Law's Branding/PEP Games

 Professional services operate like Hollywood: It's the star game. Both for branding and for profitability. 

How Big Law played it in 2022 is featured in Bloomberg Law. Increasingly twinkle wattage is not home-grown. Instead it is snatched from a competitor or at least a powerhouse instituition. The poacher looks good. Those poached from lose brand equity. And the lawyers who lateral acquire more money, power, and influence. 

The significant plays this year include the sports lawyers Irwin Raij and Charles Baker from O'Melveny to Sidley Austin. Sports are big. So is cybersecurity. Paul Weiss nudged John Carlin from the Department of Justice to co-chair its practice in that. 

Since Profits Per Equity Partner is projected to be down for 2022 there could be fewer of the major lateral moves. Those require the big bucks, both on the table and in projetions for the future.

Here were the PEP winners in 2021:

FirmPEP
1. Wachtell$8.4M
2. Kirkland$7.388M
3. Davis Polk$7.01M
4. Sullivan & Cromwell$6.366M
5. Paul Weiss$6.162M
6. Simpson Thacher$5.980M
7. Cravath$5.803M
8. Quinn Emanuel$5.746M
9. Latham$5.705M
10. Cahill$5.533M

The Catch-22, of course, is that it takes massive PEP to keep growing PEP. 

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