So hanging out with my kids for Spring Break and while they build legos I figured I’d do a quick project– ranking the world’s largest law firms by YouTube followers.
YouTube is the world’s second most visited website and an absolutely critical communication channel for businesses (including law firms) seeking to engage with new and existing customers.
Our powerful firm–Troutman Amin, LLP— has only been around for about a year and has just six lawyers but we have a vibrant YouTube channel with over 89,000 views and a library of 177 videos–mostly covering telecom and privacy law in the United States. (You can visit us at @deservetowin).
Looking across the world’s largest law firms, however, it is plain that not every law firm prioritizes video engagement– which is perhaps not surprising since VERY few law firms have the level of talent to display that we do.
Most big law firms simply have no cohesive brand identity. Their business model is to rely on individual partners to build relationships and trust with clients and then pay those “rainmakers” sufficiently to keep them from leaving. This creates an incredibly unstable working relationship among partners at most major law firms and very little incentive to take care of non-producing (from a client perspective) partners and associates, who do not bring in clients.
Troutman Amin, LLP’s model is quite different. We rely on an incredibly powerful brand and reputation as the best-in-the-business to bring in major clients. We do not treat any client as belonging to any partner–all clients belong to the firm, because it is the firm’s “brand” that brings them in.
The lack of cohesive identity among #biglaw firms is plainly on display in their (mostly) anemic approach to video engagement and YouTube. Only a handful of the world’s largest firms have more YouTube followers than lawyers–and in most cases the discrepancy is shocking.
Yet each of these law firms has over half a billion in revenue (and in some cases billions in revenue) and supposedly highly-developed marketing departments. So the lack of any meaningful YouTube presence for these firms is simply stunning.
Without further adieu, however, here is the list of the world’s largest law firms* ranked by YouTube channel followers:
THE WORLD’S LARGEST LAW FIRMS WITH NO YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Tied in last place at number 100 are 15 of the world’s largest law firms that have no YouTube presence at all. (At least not that I could find in 30 seconds of research.)
It is absolutely insane to me to think about firms with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and tremendous marketing resources not caring about video engagement. Yet here we are. 15 top law firms that simply don’t get it:
AllBright Law Offices: None
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton: None
Cravath, Swaine & Moore: None
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton: None
Gibson Dunn: None
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: None
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz: None
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison: None
King & Spalding: None
Willkie Farr & Gallagher: None
Katten Muchin Rosenman: None
Blake, Cassels & Graydon: None
Fox Rothschild: None
Grandall Law Firm: None
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart: None
DOWNRIGHT EMBARASSING– 11 OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST LAW FIRMS HAVE LESS THAN 50 YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS
While having no YouTube channel might speak to a strategy of avoiding video engagement, having a YouTube channel with less than 50 followers suggest a simple lack of execution–or thought.
Imagine being in chare of a marketing department at a law firm that can’t generate a YouTube following large enough to fill a single room. But here you go:
84. Deheng Law Offices: 2
83. Cozen O’Connor (Elder law): 3
82. Davis Polk & Wardwell: 6
81. Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith: 6
80. Faegre Drinker: 13
79. Yingke (Europe): 32
78. Zhong Lun: 33
77. Pinsent Masons: 44
76. Polsinelli: 46
75. Debevoise & Plimpton: 46
74. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson: 47
VERY WEAK– 14 OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST LAW FIRMS HAVE BETWEEN 50 AND 150 YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS
73. Proskauer Rose: 55
72. Wilson Sonsini (careers): 61
71. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe: 63
70. O’Melveny & Myers: 78
69. Covington & Burling: 80
68. Fenwick & West: 91
67. Sidley Austin: 103
66. Barnes & Thornburg: 107
65. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman: 112
64. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft: 121
63. CMS (EEIG): 124
62. Troutman Pepper: 135
61. Goodwin Procter: 137
60. King & Wood Mallesons: 138
WEAK BUT TRYING–10 of the World’s Largest Law Firms Have Between 150 and 250 YouTube Followers
Isn’t it crazy to think that half of the world’s largest law firms have less than 250 YouTube followers?
59. Alston & Bird: 167
58. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo: 177
57. Winston & Strawn: 179
56. Baker & Hostetler: 184
55. Vinson & Elkins: 186
54. Clyde & Co: 193
53. Littler Mendelson: 200
52. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: 204
51. Cooley: 215
50. Skadden Arps: 243
GETTING THERE–11 of the World’s Largest Law Firms Have Between 250 and 400 YouTube Followers
49. Greenberg Traurig: 259
48. Squire Patton Boggs: 290
47. Simmons & Simmons: 294
46. Weil, Gotshal & Manges: 309
45. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: 324
44. Holland & Knight: 370
43. Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer: 371
42. Hunton Andrews Kurth: 372
41. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner: 374
40. Ropes and Gray: 377
39. Slaughter and May: 394
DECENT FOLLOWINGS–10 of the World’s Largest Law Firms Have Between 400 and 700 YouTube Followers (and so Does Troutman Amin, LLP)
38. Paul Hastings: 406
37. Shearman & Sterling: 420
36. Troutman Amin, LLP: 421**
35. Eversheds Sutherland: 445
34. K&L Gates: 454
33. Morgan Lewis: 482
32. Baker Botts: 487
31. Milbank: 593
30. Foley & Lardner: 613
29. Perkins Coie: 647
28. McDermott, Will & Emery: 683
27. Seyfarth Shaw: 686
SERIOUS FOLLOWINGS–11 of the World’s Largest Law Firms Have Between 700 and 1,000 YouTube Followers
Weird to think that you can be near the top tier in terms of YouTube followers and still have less than 1,000 followers… but there we are.
26. Bird & Bird: 731
25. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 739
24. Reed Smith: 747
23. Morrison & Foerster: 770
22. Kirkland and Ellis: 780
21. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan: 818
20. Linklaters: 832
19. McGuireWoods: 918
18. Sullivan & Cromwell: 929
17. Clifford Chance: 992
16. Venable: 1,000
NEARING GREATNESS: Nine of the World’s Largest Law Firms Have Between 1,000 and 2,000 YouTube Followers
15. Norton Rose Fulbright: 1,010
14. Allen & Overy: 1,210
13. Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy: 1,210
12. Gowling WLG: 1,300
11. Herbert Smith Freehills: 1,420
10. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr: 1,430
9. Dentons: 1,670
8. Lahtam and Watkins: 1,740
7. Jones Day: 1,850
TOP TIER: ONLY 6 OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST LAW FIRMS HAVE MORE THAN 2,000 YOU TUBE FOLLOWERS
This could probably have been the headline. It is crazy to me that only 6 of the world’s largest firms have more than 2k followers– with all their personnel, resources and funding. But here we are. Behold, the world’s largest firms with the LARGEST YouTube channel following:
6. Hogan Lovells: 2,020
5. DLA Piper: 2,290
4. White & Case: 2,430
3. Baker McKenzie: 2,750
2. Mayer Brown: 3,350
- Dechert: 3,420
So there you go–that’s your list of the world’s largest law firms ranked by YouTube followers. Congrats to the top tier– your firms are really standing head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
I will update this list next year and we’ll see where there is the most movement.
Chat soon.
*I used this list for this project. Chat soon.
** Troutman Amin, LLP is NOT one of the world’s largest law firms. Yet.
CAMERA SHY: I Ranked the World’s Largest Law Firms by YouTube Followers and the Results Are Stunning
