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Last year, on average, was the best year for law firms since the recession, but averages can be misleading, according to an analysis today by the Wall Street Journal. Revenue at large, corporate law firms rose by close to 5 percent in 2014. But that’s mostly because a small group of elite law firms continue to thrive, while more than 100 others struggle to keep pace. A field of around 15 to 20 law firms dominates the law market, industry observers say. Most are corporate heavyweights that benefited from the boom in mergers-and-acquisitions work last year, including Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. At the 15 most-profitable firms, revenue increased 6.6 percent on average, according to data collected by Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group. That compares with a 4 percent increase across 170 other law firms surveyed by Citi.

Jefferson County's bankruptcy may have ended in late 2013 but lawyers that represented the county in the case are still collecting millions of dollars in fees, according to AL.com. Three firms have collected nearly $7.6 million in payments in the 14 months since the county emerged from bankruptcy, according to records. They are Bradley Arant Boult & Cummings which has billed $4.1 million; Klee Tuchin Bogdanoff and Stern, $1.9 million; and Balch & Bingham, $1.5 million. Jefferson County Attorney Carol Sue Nelson said those firms have handled legal work other than the bankruptcy such as audit reports and tax litigation, but acknowledged that "post-bankruptcy" matters are still costing the county.

Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s largest unit replaced a key advisor working on its bankruptcy case in the wake of a personnel shakeup at Perella Weinberg Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. has tapped Millstein & Co. to replace Perella as its financial advisor. The unit, which operates Caesars Palace Las Vegas and dozens of other casinos in the U.S. and abroad, filed for chapter 11 protection in January to slash its $18.4 billion debt load. Perella helped craft the unit’s debt-restructuring strategy ahead of the bankruptcy filing. The Caesars unit cut ties with Perella after bankers who were working on the restructuring left the firm.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed more than six years ago, but the failed investment bank is still paying millions in bonuses to the team winding down its business, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lehman, which officially emerged from chapter 11 nearly three years ago, paid out $44 million last year in bonuses to employees, according to a monthly operating report filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The bank paid out about $50 million in bonuses in 2013. Since exiting bankruptcy protection, the investment bank has remained in business, managing a large pool of assets and selling when it finds a good deal, rather than in a panic. This has resulted in greater-than-expected recovery for Lehman’s creditors. The bank’s estate has been selling off its real estate and its private-equity stakes as well as winding down its derivatives’ positions to pay back its creditors. Lehman, in its most recent estimate, said it expects to bring in $90.6 billion from asset sales to pay back creditors.