When a reporter speaks to a managing partner on the record nowadays, there’s a lot of fluffy talk about how the firm’s geographic diversity helps it weather the storm, or how its culture or visionary leadership keeps it together like super glue, despite plummeting profits and skyrocketing layoffs.
But when managing partners can say how they really feel, in this case an anonymous, aggregated survey (.pdf) by Citi Private Bank, the news is much different. MPs are downright depressed, it turns out.
Yeah, we know: Hold page one! We’ll just examine the report here, after the jump.
Managing partner confidence is the lowest its been since Citi began its survey in 2007. It’s down 4 points to 69 this quarter. The index is on a 200-point scale, so anything above 100 is “optimism” territory, according to a foot-note on the survey.
“Across the board, the views of managing partners about the economy at large, the legal market and the financial health of their own firms are mired deep in negative territory,” the report says.
The report didn’t break down how many managing partners participated, or what types or sizes of firms they manage. A late email to Dan DiPietro, head of Citi’s law firm group, seeking more information on the survey’s sample, was not immediately returned.
The survey asks about feelings on the economy at large, hiring plans and outlooks on profits, revenues, expenses and demand. All of these were down, except views on the overall economy, which jumped 11 points to 49. We’d summarize that as a step up from “mildly suicidal” to “chronically depressed.”
Still, 62 percent of MPs that were surveyed predict conditions will get worse, while just one in ten expects an improvement over the next six months, the survey said.
Speaking of things rated on a 200-point scale, who’s got some high-proof liquor? Sounds like these MPs need a stiff drink.
— Amanda Royal
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