Who do you think is the richest practicing lawyer in America? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Was googling this and all that came up were people that started their own company or someone who was like 3rd or 4th person of a really successful company.

Practicing meaning still does legal work.

[Anonymous User]

Probably Mark Lanier or someone similar.

[Anonymous User]

The real answer is probably like JB Pritzker or some other billionaire heir who went to law school as a lark.

[Anonymous User]

Would think that certain name partners have to be up there like John Quinn, David Boies, Marty Lipton, etc.

[Wanderingdrock]

Probably a toss-up between Paul C. Weiss and Paul Hastings.

[Anonymous User]

Would think that certain name partners have to be up there like John Quinn, David Boies, Marty Lipton, etc.

Any of the three should probably be worth a billion+ by now by saving like 20% of his income over the years but I feel like people on that trajectory tend to give a ton of money away (whether to charity, estate-planning, vanity projects or mediocre investment managers)

[Anonymous User]

Probably Mark Lanier or someone similar.

This is the only halfway plausible guess in this thread. I don’t know if Mark Lanier is the richest lawyer or if there is some other plaintiff’s lawyer who struck gold, but no one in biglaw (or on the defense side) is even in the conversation.

[Anonymous User]

This question becomes a line-drawing problem about "who has made the most money practicing law" vs. "which lawyers are the richest." Some billionaires practiced law briefly but made their money in business like Charlie Munger and Peter Thiel. John Morgan is a career lawyer with net worth in the hundreds of millions, but his wealth is not only from the massive PI firm, but also owning a business empire.

Name partners like John Quinn and Marty Lipton have definitely made $100m plus over the years. But this is kind of from "owning a business" as much as practicing themselves. Something similar goes for some of the people getting massive PI judgments like Mark Lanier. He's got a huge equity stake in a firm he founded. But contingency fees on PI judgments is probably the most people make from practicing alone.

People probably saw the NY Times article about how rich the top transactional partners are getting from private equity deals. The top dogs at Kirkland like Andy Calder are making $25m a year.

Side note: I don't get why. If a litigator gets a contingency fee on a massive judgment, then they get that without anyone having to really agree to give it to them. It seems to me like no one would ever want to give a lawyer $20m, but if Lanier wins the $200m case, he gets $20m, end of story. But why is it worth it to these private equity clients to pay a lawyer $25m a year to do deals? Couldn't they still get the deal done by paying some other lawyer a little bit less?

No shade to transactional folks on this board, just saying.

[gregfootball2001]

Side note: I don't get why. If a litigator gets a contingency fee on a massive judgment, then they get that without anyone having to really agree to give it to them. It seems to me like no one would ever want to give a lawyer $20m, but if Lanier wins the $200m case, he gets $20m, end of story. But why is it worth it to these private equity clients to pay a lawyer $25m a year to do deals? Couldn't they still get the deal done by paying some other lawyer a little bit less?

No shade to transactional folks on this board, just saying.

Not to derail the post, but:
(1) When the deals are for billions of dollars, $25M is a rounding error, so it matters less; and
(2) When the shit hits the fan later, the equity guy can say "It wasn't my fault, I hired [really expensive prestigious law firm]."

[Anonymous User]

It's very rare to see an invoice for 25MM for a single deal. But the top PE people are doing a ton of deals. They bill the same as everyone else, just generate a lot of work. The relationship partner isn't handling every detail, that's why firms like KE have armies of NEPs.

[Anonymous User]

Going to be the lawyers on the Elon Musk pay lawsuit if they convince the judge that getting paid $7 billion somehow helps Tesla shareholders.

[Anonymous User]

Judge Judy likely up there

[Anonymous User]

While we're obsessing about money... Recent grad starting in NYC biglaw soon. I have been watching "Owning Manhattan" (dumb Netflix show) which showcases high level NYC real estate. I have been entranced by the apartments overlooking Central Park, etc. Say a price tag of $10 million.

How feasible is it to live in an apartment like that as a lawyer? Do you basically have to be like John Quinn (starting a firm that becomes massive) or win huge plaintiff's side judgments? Or, do you have to be like a partner at a lit boutique who strikes it big on a big case? Or, is it feasible that if you hang in there and make partner at a V20 you could do it?

The partners I know of seem to all live in big houses in weird, far away places like Westchester.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Partners generally make seven figures and if you're remotely about saving you could get to an eight-figure net worth after doing that for about a decade (especially because you have a buck or two after ten years of getting to partner). Two decades of being a partner, I think a $10MM apartment starts to be realistic.

[Anonymous User]

10MM home is a lot, but it's definitely doable on a biglaw partner salary making 2-3 mil. A mortgage on that is about 60-70k a month, or 700-850k a year. Maybe less if you locked in at lower rates, put more down etc.

Personally, if I were spending that much in housing, I'd would go with a mansion on Long Island and have a small apartment in the city. But it's doable if that's your choice.

[nealric]

He's no longer alive, but I believe Joe Jamail was the first person to become a billionaire through practicing law. His fortune was made with enormous contingency fees (most notably from tobacco litigation).

[nealric]

While we're obsessing about money... Recent grad starting in NYC biglaw soon. I have been watching "Owning Manhattan" (dumb Netflix show) which showcases high level NYC real estate. I have been entranced by the apartments overlooking Central Park, etc. Say a price tag of $10 million.

How feasible is it to live in an apartment like that as a lawyer? Do you basically have to be like John Quinn (starting a firm that becomes massive) or win huge plaintiff's side judgments? Or, do you have to be like a partner at a lit boutique who strikes it big on a big case? Or, is it feasible that if you hang in there and make partner at a V20 you could do it?

The partners I know of seem to all live in big houses in weird, far away places like Westchester.

$10 million seems somewhat on the low-end for an apartment overlooking central park no? But equity partner in v20 can make mid-7 figures, and big rainmakers can clear $20 million now. Someone making $5 million could swing a $10 million apartment. Still, even the $5 million v20 partners are extreme outliers for attorney comp generally.

[Anonymous User]

While we're obsessing about money... Recent grad starting in NYC biglaw soon. I have been watching "Owning Manhattan" (dumb Netflix show) which showcases high level NYC real estate. I have been entranced by the apartments overlooking Central Park, etc. Say a price tag of $10 million.

How feasible is it to live in an apartment like that as a lawyer? Do you basically have to be like John Quinn (starting a firm that becomes massive) or win huge plaintiff's side judgments? Or, do you have to be like a partner at a lit boutique who strikes it big on a big case? Or, is it feasible that if you hang in there and make partner at a V20 you could do it?

The partners I know of seem to all live in big houses in weird, far away places like Westchester.

$10 million seems somewhat on the low-end for an apartment overlooking central park no? But equity partner in v20 can make mid-7 figures, and big rainmakers can clear $20 million now. Someone making $5 million could swing a $10 million apartment. Still, even the $5 million v20 partners are extreme outliers for attorney comp generally.

On this show there are $10 million apartments in the Plaza with very nice views of the park.

Okay, I will let you guys know after 20 years of slaving away if I make it. If I'm doing that, I don't want to do it just to live in a McMansion.

[Anonymous User]

McMansions are great, don't knock it till you try it. Give me a giant McMansion with 6 bedrooms, kitchen with a huge island, jacuzzi and gym, plenty of land, 3 car garage and a circular driveway. You can keep your overpriced tiny apartment that lets you look down and see a park, I'll have a park in my backyard.

[Dr Tobias Funke]

McMansions are great, don't knock it till you try it. Give me a giant McMansion with 6 bedrooms, kitchen with a huge island, jacuzzi and gym, plenty of land, 3 car garage and a circular driveway. You can keep your overpriced tiny apartment that lets you look down and see a park, I'll have a park in my backyard.

Nothing better than when you run out of butter and need to make a 45 minute round trip in your car to make dinner. Want some Thai food? That'll be an hour round trip. Your kid needs to get home from soccer practice? Hope you have a free hour to pick them up.

[Anonymous User]

We're getting off topic, but the real move here is Chicago. One Chicago/Residences at the St. Regis/Waldorf-Astoria condos etc are almost all under $10 million for 60+ floors up, you have an easier time with a car in the city than NYC, most of the buildings either have grocery stores in them or very nearby, lots more space than equivalent spends in NYC, and 90+% of the cultural amenities of NYC.

Assuming you're a K&E/Sidley/etc equity partner, after a few years you're definitely in range to buy one of these--or if you must go to the suburbs, anything north on the lakeshore is cheaper and frankly better than what you would find at equivalent prices in Westchester/Long Island.

[Anonymous User]

McMansions are great, don't knock it till you try it. Give me a giant McMansion with 6 bedrooms, kitchen with a huge island, jacuzzi and gym, plenty of land, 3 car garage and a circular driveway. You can keep your overpriced tiny apartment that lets you look down and see a park, I'll have a park in my backyard.

Nothing better than when you run out of butter and need to make a 45 minute round trip in your car to make dinner. Want some Thai food? That'll be an hour round trip. Your kid needs to get home from soccer practice? Hope you have a free hour to pick them up.

What are you smoking? Everything is within a 12 minute drive in the suburbs, anyone who doesn't know this is just ignorant. It's not the sticks, it's the suburbs. Car brained yes, but with the car extremely accessible.

And why would I ever run out of butter, I shop in Costco and have 2 fridges plus a full size freezer.

[The Lsat Airbender]

What are you smoking? Everything is within a 12 minute drive in the suburbs, anyone who doesn't know this is just ignorant. It's not the sticks, it's the suburbs.

you seem to realize this is below-average and are building a wall around it by calling everything that doesn't qualify "the sticks". Whether the grocery store is 12 or 25 minutes away can come and go with the whims of traffic, or fairly small differences within a suburban town

[Anonymous User]

What are you smoking? Everything is within a 12 minute drive in the suburbs, anyone who doesn't know this is just ignorant. It's not the sticks, it's the suburbs.

you seem to realize this is below-average and are building a wall around it by calling everything that doesn't qualify "the sticks". Whether the grocery store is 12 or 25 minutes away can come and go with the whims of traffic, or fairly small differences within a suburban town

Have you ever lived in the suburbs? Yes or no. Anyone I know who does is just confused by the online hate, it really makes no sense. I have at least 4 grocery stores within a 6 minute drive, I was being conservative by estimating 12 minutes.

I get if you love the city for walkability, nightlife, whatever. No hate. But groceries? Suburbs are the paradise for groceries.

Re my comment on the sticks, that was probably ill advised, I honestly don't know what things are like in a rural area. They might have plenty of access too. I was not building any "wall", just allowing for the possibility that such a place exists. You do understand that McMansion suburbs and rural areas are different places, right? I didn't make up that distinction.

[The Lsat Airbender]

What are you smoking? Everything is within a 12 minute drive in the suburbs, anyone who doesn't know this is just ignorant. It's not the sticks, it's the suburbs.

you seem to realize this is below-average and are building a wall around it by calling everything that doesn't qualify "the sticks". Whether the grocery store is 12 or 25 minutes away can come and go with the whims of traffic, or fairly small differences within a suburban town

Have you ever lived in the suburbs? Yes or no. Anyone I know who does is just confused by the online hate, it really makes no sense. I have at least 4 grocery stores within a 6 minute drive, I was being conservative by estimating 12 minutes.

I'm not going to offer a bunch of details to someone hiding behind anon but yes, of course I have, which is how I know it is possible to live nearer or further from a grocery store lmao. You need consider physically getting into/out of the parking lot and the store to your Google Maps travel time. You need to account for traffic, which is highly likely in this hypo where you're trying to grab something from the shop for dinner.

If I needed butter right now I could get it and be back in my big-city apartment, measuring out butter for a recipe, in about 15 minutes. Physically impossible in most suburban homes (unless I luck out and can borrow some from a neighbor). The point anon was making is less about physical differences and more about how needing to drive everywhere adds a ton of friction to your life unless you have a non-working spouse running the errands.