Latham & Watkins LLP is an American law firm founded in 1934. As of 2017, it is the world’s highest-grossing law firm, with US$2.823 billion in annual revenue, and is widely considered one of the most prestigious law firms in the world.
Dana Latham and Paul Watkins founded Latham & Watkins in January 1934 in Los Angeles, California. Latham's practice focused on US state and federal tax law and he eventually served as Commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service under President Dwight Eisenhower. Watkins' practise focused primarily on labor. Although Latham & Watkins began with a focus on labor and tax law, the firm has grown into an international, full-service law practice with highly regarded practices in transactional, disputes and regulatory areas.
Latham currently employs approximately 2,200 attorneys in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and it has the largest number of lawyers in the U.S. The firm has extensive Californian roots, with Latham's largest office now in New York City, with nearly 400 lawyers. The firm claims it is the only fully integrated multinational law firm with no single headquarters. In 2007, Latham & Watkins became the first American law firm to attain more than $2 billion in yearly revenue, and in 2015, the firm surpassed the likes of DLA Piper, Baker & McKenzie and Skadden to become the highest-grossing law firm in the world for the first time.
