<p>In addition to prestige, an important measure of a firm's success is the measure of PPP -- profits per partner (though there has been some manipulation of this number in recent years by firms that have created non-equity partnerships and/or "special counsel"/"senior counsel" type positions to create a smaller pool of partners sharing in the gravy -- non-equity partners are partners in name only and are salaried, thus, they do not share in the profits of the firm). The top ten firms (nationally) determined by the American Lawyer to have the highest profits per partner in 2005 were:</p>
<ol>
<li> Wachtell - $3,790,000 (76 equity partners)</li>
<li> Cravath - $2,600,000 (87 equity partners)</li>
<li> Cadwalader -$2,545,000 (75 equity partners, has a non-equity track)</li>
<li> Paul Weiss - $2,475,000 (103 equity partners)</li>
<li> Sullivan & Cromwell - $2,410,000 (158 equity partners)</li>
<li> Simpson Thacher - $2,370,000 (155 equity partners)</li>
<li> Cahill Gordon - $2,285,000 (64 equity partners, has a non-equity track)</li>
<li> Kirkland & Ellis - $2,120,000 (192 equity partners, has a non-equity track)</li>
<li> Milbank - $2,020.000 (113 equity partners, has a non-equity track)</li>
<li> Davis Polk - $2,000,000 (148 equity partners)</li>
</ol>