2007 Corporate Scorecard: Firms with the Top Corporate Practices

You could say The American Lawyer’s annual Corporate Scorecard rankings, published in the April issue, are somewhat anticlimactic in that they are based on deals transacted the previous year. And, because the data for the rankings comes from outside data suppliers (Thomson Financial, Mergermarket, Dealogic, and BanruptcyData.com), those suppliers have already publicized much of the information earlier in the year, and indeed most have published law firm rankings.

Yet, Corporate Scorecard makes all that information seem new again in several ways. It is the only venue where information about all the various types of corporate law practices are brought together under one roof and then examined separately. The result is a rich composite where a reader can see the scope of a firm’s expertise within the more general practice called corporate finance.

Latham & Watkins, for example, is a well-known “corporate” firm in the general sense of the term. But their Corporate Scorecard rankings make clear the breadth and depth of that practice in all its permutations. Of the 25 charts that comprise the Scorecard, Latham appears on 17 of them, and is among the top 10 on 14. (Latham, by the way, was the “most admired firm,” as named by managing partners and CEOs in American Lawyer’s annual Law Firm Leaders Survey, December 2006).

In addition to the plethora of charts and rankings, The American Lawyer’s Corporate Scorecard issue has also become known for its “Dealmakers of the Year” profiles. This year’s group includes 16 stand-out lawyers who handled some of the biggest transactions of 2006, and the stories behind those deals.

Corporate Scorecard rankings are now available through ALM Research Online as a searchable, sortable Excel workbook. Subscribers may download it for free; non-subscribers may purchase it for $599. The ALM Research Online database also includes Corporate Scorecard information going back to 1993, available to premium subscribers.