If, every year, the unveiling of the Am Law 100 provides many firms cause for celebration, for others, it's a time to lament. That's certainly the case for firms that were previously on the list and now find themselves on the outside looking in.
In 2019, that list included two firms, both based in Missouri: St. Louis’ Husch Blackwell and Kansas City’s Shook Hardy & Bacon. But a walk down memory lane offers roughly 30 other names—some defunct, others subsumed by mergers, some deemed ineligible and still others paddling along in the Am Law 200.
Here's a brief overview of which firms sit in these different categories since the turn of the millennium.
Am Law 200 Perennials
Partners at Husch Blackwell and Shook Hardy can take solace in one fact: The largest group of departures from the list features firms that have found a comfortable new home in the Am Law 200. Robins Kaplan and Kelley Drye & Warren last appeared in the Am Law 100 in 2001, but both firms have become staples in the Second Hundred. Other firms making the transition in the previous decade include Quarles & Brady, last seen in the Am Law 100 in 2002; Wiley Rein, departing after 2007; Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, which exited after 2008; and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, gone since 2009.
This decade has seen Wilson Elser depart from this list after 2013; Finnegan leave after 2014; Bracewell move on after 2015; and Pepper Hamilton leave after 2017.
Swallowed Whole
Another set of firms left the Am Law 100 as a direct consequence of merging or otherwise being subsumed by another law firm. Many of these firms were in good health prior to their mergers. Kaye Scholer left the list after 2015 following its merger with Arnold & Porter (the firms initially went by the combined name Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer, before reverting to Arnold & Porter). Edwards Wildman Palmer's last year on the list was 2014, prior to its merger with Locke Lord. In the previous decade, Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich last appeared on the list in 2005 before becoming part of the newly formed DLA Piper. The last year for both Hale and Dorr, which became part of WilmerHale, and Shaw Pittman, which merged into Pillsbury Winthrop, was 2004. And in 2001, Brown & Wood appeared on the list before merging with Sidley Austin.
Bingham McCutcheon, last seen on the list in 2015, is in a slightly different category. The financially flailing firm saw the vast majority of its partners and associates join Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, which also paid off its debt, but the transaction was not a formal merger.