This generational group is the largest in BigLaw
Millennials—people who range in age from 18 to 36—make up the largest generational group in the nation’s top law firms.
An analysis by ALM Intelligence found that millennials make up 43 percent at lawyers at nearly 400 of the top firms in its data, Law.com (sub. req.) reports. Lawyers’ ages were estimated based on law firm website information about their graduation dates from law school.
In raw numbers, there are 47,000 millennial lawyers at the firms, 36,600 Generation X lawyers, and about 24,000 baby boomers. Generation X includes people ranging from 37 to 52, while baby boomers range in age from 53 to 71.
Millennials account for 88 percent of associates and only 5 percent of partners. Gen X lawyers make up 52 percent of partners, and baby boomers make up 40 percent of partners.
The higher a law firm’s profits per equity partner, the greater percentage of millennials, the article reports. Sixty-one percent of lawyers were millennials at the 10 firms with the highest profits per equity partner, compared to 54 percent at firms ranked 11 to 25, 48 percent at firms ranked 26 to 50, 41 percent at firms ranked 51 to 100, and 33 percent at firms ranked 101 to 20.
“Employing millennials appears to go hand-in-hand with profitability—illustrating how Big Law continues to use rainmakers to land major clients and young lawyers to put in long hours serving them,” the article reports.
