2008 results figures pour in nationwide almost as fast as the layoff announcements. Three more quick hits from our brethren at the AmLaw Daily:
Gross revenue at Goodwin Procter was up 13 percent to $690 million in 2008. Average profits per equity partner fell 8.2 percent to $1.41 million. Revenue per lawyer also dipped to $860,000 from $880,000 in 2007.
According to firm chair Regina Pisa, practices were at or near last year's performance levels up until September. "It took a while for the pipeline to draw down, but I would say as soon as capital dried up, all practices were affected one way or another," Pisa says.
Paul Weiss, Foley Hoag and What It All Means, after the jump:
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison had a solid 2008, with both revenue and profits moving up. Gross revenue reached $692 million (up 6.3 percent from 2007), and profits per equity partner climbed to $2.65 million (up 2.3 percent). At $1.07 million, revenue per lawyer was essentially flat (the number was up 0.22 percent from 2007). Head count at the firm, a traditional one-tier partnership, also grew by 6 percent to almost 650 lawyers.
Though the firm declined to comment about its financial performance, Paul Weiss's numbers undoubtedly are due to its strong litigation practice.
Boston's Foley Hoag saw a bump up in both gross revenue and profits in 2008. Gross revenue for the firm increased 2.5 percent to $154 million; profits per equity partner rose more than 5 percent to more than $840,000.
The increases were due, in large part, to growth in several areas, including securities, energy, and policy work, the firm says.
Previously: Cal Law: Bay Area firm numbers & stories * Legal Pad: Sweet Results Roundup
The lesson from all these results stories seems to be that no firm lost money last year, but all of them are so scared of 2009 that they’re laying off associates in mass quantity before the recession really hits the fan. Dark days, and a lot of hardworking people are being left out in the cold as firm leaders and corporate chieftains look at the bottom line and decide that maybe there is an I in Team …
— Brian McDonough
Comments