Boies Schiller, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, Cole Scott & Kissane, and Kobre & Kim are just a few names found of the extended list of BigLaw firms that applied for the Paycheck Protection Program, which was passed in April to help businesses bolster paychecks during the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S Small Business Administration released the data Monday detailing the recipients of federal bailout funds as a part of the $660 billion program intended to save American jobs and keep small businesses afloat during the economic standstill caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the data, around 5,000 businesses obtained individual loans between $5 million and $10 million.
While restaurants, car dealerships, and medical offices were among the top loan recipients, dozens of AM 200 law firms—some of whose partners bring home more than $1 million a year—also received hefty sums through the SBA’s PPP.
Around 45 of the nation’s 200 highest-grossing law firms obtained loans totaling between $210 million and $425 million, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis. The PPP funds were meant to save more than 16,150 jobs across those firms.
Boies Schiller ranked as the 117th highest-grossing law firm in the world appears to be the lone firm among the AM 100 and the most profitable to receive aid. The 319-attorney firm brought in more than $400 million in 2019 revenue, according to The American Lawyer. Just in 2019, the firm’s equity partners brought home more than $3.3 million.
Kasowitz Benson Torres, founded by President Trump’s longtime personal attorney, Marc E. Kasowitz, who represented him in litigation matters for more than 15 years, also received a loan for between $5 million and $10 million. Equity partners at the firm earned $1.9 million on average in 2019.
Almost all of the firms that received funds from the PPP loans had revenue of more than $100 million last year, the AM data shows.
At least 40 firms received loans worth between $5 million and $10 million, and only five law firms obtained funds between $2 million and $5 million.
In total, the firms received between $205 million and $415 million.
According to the LAW.com and Bloomberg Law, the following AM 200 law firms received loans
| AM Law Firm | Gross revenue in 2019 | Number of Attorneys |
| Adams and Reese | $139,161,000 | 244 attorneys |
| Armstrong Teasdale | $136,800,000 | 253 attorneys |
| Arnall Golden Gregory | $115,700,000 | 155 attorneys |
| Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff | $160,073,000 | 241 attorneys |
| Boies Schiller Flexner LLP | $405,000,000 | 319 attorneys |
| Bond, Schoeneck, King | $107,197,000 | 240 attorneys |
| Buchalter, P.C. | $184,461,000 | 303 attorneys |
| Butler Snow | $190,316,000 | 337 attorneys |
| Cole Schotz | $118,305,000 | 144 attorneys |
| Cole Scott & Kissane | $167,000,000 | 477 attorneys |
| Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle | $130,000,000 | 267 attorneys |
| Day Pitney | $166,281,000 | |
| Gibbons P.C. | $101,149,000 | 173 attorneys |
| Gray Robinson | $156,100,000 | 269 attorneys |
| Hinckley, Allen & Snyder | $105,189,000 | 138 attorneys |
| Hodgson Russ | $101,105,000 | 177 attorneys |
| Honigman | $242,860,000 | |
| Hughes Hubbard & Reed | $288,100,000 | |
| Ice Miller | $204,236,000 | 313 attorneys |
| Kasowitz Benson & Torres | $216,808,000 | 239 attorneys |
| Kelley Drye & Warren | $232,400,000 | |
| Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP | $222,200,000 | 281 attorneys |
| Kobre & Kim | $183,761,000 | 104 attorneys |
| Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie | $161,483,000 | |
| Miles & Stockbridge | $119,264,000 | 210 attorneys |
| Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone | $106,687,000 | |
| Morris, Manning & Martin | $148,881,000 | 179 attorneys |
| Phelps Dunbar | $141,900,000 | |
| Porter Wright Morris & Arthur | $133,949,000 | 222 attorneys |
| Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch | $116,662,000 | 167 attorneys |
| Pryor Cashman | $134,900,000 | 175 attorneys |
| Robins Kaplan | $194,964,000 | 215 attorneys |
| Robinson & Cole | $119,917,000 | 208 attorneys |
| Rutan & Tucker | $101,420,000 | 139 attorneys |
| Schiff Hardin | $186,437,000 | 233 attorneys |
| Sherman & Howard | $113,672,000 | 185 attorneys |
| Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick | $125,927,000 | 247 attorneys |
| Shutts & Bowen | $183,263,000 | 283 attorneys |
| Smith, Gambrell & Russell | $133,385,000 | 230 attorneys |
| Spencer Fane | $130,796,000 | 276 attorneys |
| Stroock & Stroock & Lavan | $258,000,000 | 243 attorneys |
| Sullivan & Worcester | $111,654,000 | 144 attorneys |
| Thompson & Knight | $217,856,000 | 278 attorneys |
| Wiley Rein | $233,169,000 | 240 attorneys |
Apart from the 45 Am Law 200 firms that received loans, more than 130 small and midsize law firms making less than $100 million received PPP loans.
Firms outside the Am Law 200 that also received funds include Best Best & Krieger; Rivkin Radler; Morrison Cohen; Carter Ledyard & Milburn; Moses & Singer; Herrick, Feinstein; Barclay Damon; Cullen and Dykman; Olshan Frome Wolosky; Mendes & Mount; Phillips Nizer; Cohen & Gresser; Labaton Sucharow; Phillips Lytle; and Seward & Kissel.
Most of the firms that applied for the PPP loan used the money to avoid mass layoffs and furloughs that have rippled through the legal field.
Thompson & Knight told LAW.COM it applied for the loan because its “primary goal during these uncertain times is to protect our people, continue to provide outstanding service to our clients, and to give back to the communities we serve.”
A spokeswoman for Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP told Law360 in an email, “When the pandemic shut down the New York courts and our offices for several months, the PPP funding made available by the Federal government served its purpose because, together with substantial cost-saving measures and greatly reduced partner distributions, it enabled us to preserve the jobs of our hundreds of employees at full salary and benefits without interruption.”
