JD Journal » revenue down

Clifford Chance Leads Rough Year for U.K. Firms

joshua — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:32:53 +0000

Revenue at the U.K.’s magic circle firms suffered a decline of 11 percent for the fiscal year ended April 30. Leading the way as the highest-grossing firm for the year was Clifford Chance.

Clifford Chance returned to the top spot despite suffering a 5 percent decline in revenue to $1.8 billion, Bloomberg reports.

Linklaters, last year’s highest-grossing U.K. firm, fell to 2^nd on revenue of $1.78 billion, which was an 8.8 percent decline from the prior year. Rounding out the magic circle firms were Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP with $1.73 billion, a drop of 11 percent; and Allen & Overy LLP, which reported revenue of $1.59 billion, a four percent drop.

Revenue is down a bit, but you always expect it to come down as the recession unwinds,” Tony Williams, founder of Jomati Consultants in London and a former managing partner at Clifford Chance, told Bloomberg. “The initial panic from the financial crisis and the Lehman collapse caused a lot of work, and there’s been a period where everyone sort of licks their wounds.”

Bloomberg cited a major decrease in mergers & acquisitions work as the reason for the declines.

London Revenue Plummets For U.S.-Based Firms

joshua — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:56:05 +0000

Nine of the 10 biggest U.S. firms with operations in London saw revenue decreases in 2009 with the lone holdout being Latham & Watkins.

According to TheLawyer.com, revenue for the top 10 U.S. firms in London fell by an average of 12 percent and among the top 30 firms revenue was down by 5 percent. Latham & Watkins, which saw its revenue increase by a mere $1.1 million, was in fact the lone firm out of the top 20 to increase revenue.

White & Case again garnered the most revenue among U.S. firms in London, but even it saw its revenue plummet by 20 percent to $197-million. Runner-up Baker & McKenzie’s revenue fell by 24 percent to $184.5 million.

The biggest drops in revenue percentage-wise were felt by Mayer Brown and K&L Gates. Both firms dropped 28 percent, with Mayer Brown down to $146.3 million and K&L Gates to $43.3 million.

The biggest increase last year came from WilmerHale, which moved from 23^rd in 2008 to 17^th in 2009 through an $8.2 million increase in revenue.

Revenue Down at Winston & Strawn

sara — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:07:19 +0000

Revenue declined at Winston & Strawn in 2009 while profits remained flat. Gross revenue decreased by 5%, roughly $40 million. Profits per partner remained steady at $1.283 million and the number of equity partners (184) at the firm did not decrease either. Revenue per lawyer decreased 2.6% to $835,824. To absorb decreasing revenues the firm trimmed its bonus pool and both associates and non-equity partners took compensation hits in 2009. The average compensation for non-equity partners at Winston & Strawn declined by 14.5%. There was also a drop in non-equity partners from 210 to 197 last year. Overall headcount decreased by 3% to 843 lawyers.

Founded in 1853, Winston & Strawn is a Chicago based firm with offices worldwide including Beijing, Charlotte, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Newark, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Revenue and Profits down, PPP up at Dickstein Shapiro

joshua — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:06:42 +0000

As a firm, Dickstein Shapiro shared the country’s economic woes in 2009 with revenues dropping by 4.78% and profits dipping 5.17%, but the partnership still managed to do ok. Per partner profits were up 6.76% to just over $1 million. The discrepancy is due to an 11% reduction in the number of equity partners firm wide. The number of non equity partners rose slightly and non equity partner compensation jumped by a little more than 8% to an average of $525,000.

Associates didn’t fare as well with two rounds of layoffs and a salary freeze. This year, associates at the firm are being paid using a merit based system rather than lockstep compensation.

Profits and Revenue Down at O’Melveny for Second Year Running

daniel — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:44:29 +0000

O’Melveny & Myers has reported a second year of revenue and profit loss. The Los Angeles-based firms litigation department, composing 55% of the companies lawyers, has been receiving pressure from clients to lower rates. Coupled with a continuation of the economic downturn, 2009 has seen a gross revenue of $826.6 million, an 8.9% percent drop. The firms average equity partner showed a profit of $1.47 million, down by 4.2%. Laying off 90 lawyers last March, O’Melveny & Myers has seen a 7.9% decrease in total employees, and a 1% decline in per lawyer revenue to $960,000. On a brighter note, the firms expansion in Asia to around 100 lawyers was a factor leading to the growth of its nonequity partners by 33%.

Baker & McKenzie Profits Down 17%

Erik Even — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:17:11 +0000

Baker & McKenzie reports its average profits per equity partner in fiscal 2008 fell 17%, to $992,000. Revenue was down 3.5% to $2.11 billion.

The firm, which in April laid off 38 attorneys and 86 paralegals, has taken a number of other cost cutting measures.

Baker & McKenzie was founded in Chicago in 1949 by Russell Baker and John McKenzie. One of the first law firms to be truly global, it employs more than 3,900 lawyers in more than 70 offices in 39 countries.

SJ Berwin PPP Plummets 50%

Erik Even — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:27:02 +0000

Law firm SJ Berwin has announced that profits per equity partner, which were £801,000 ($1.33 million) for 2008, fell to £410,000 ($680,000) for 2009.

The firm saw revenue fall 14% to £184 million ($305 million).

The other British firms that have seen the largest drop in profits are Travers Smith, Clifford Chance, Ashurst and Berwin Leighton Paisner.

Ruden McClosky Lays Off 8 Associates

Erik Even — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:29:03 +0000

Florida’s Ruden McClosky, which laid off two lawyers and 18 staff in May, and cut associate and non-equity partner compensation in June, has laid off an additional eight lawyers.

The layoffs affected associates at the firm’s litigation, corporate and land-use practices.

Ruden’s gross revenue fell by 9%, to $85.3 million in fiscal 2008.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Ruden McClosky is a law firm specializing in intellectual property law, litigation, banking & finance law, and general corporate law.

Buchanan Ingersoll’s Revenue Down for 2008

Erik Even — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:33:32 +0000

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney saw its 2008 gross revenue fall by 3.3%, from $282.1 million in 2007.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based firm increased its revenue per lawyer by 2% from $554,000. The profits per equity partner fell 1.2% dip from $570,000. The average compensation for all partners decreased by 3.6% from $445,000 to $429,000.

The firm expects a lower attorney headcount by the end of March after the annual performance review process. It is also leaving vacancies open. They cut 25 staff positions in November, and 30 in February.

The firm saw a 5% drop in headcount in 2008, to 481 lawyers. Buchanan’s equity partner tier grew by one from 108 to 109, and the non-equity tier increased by 11.8% from 85 to 95.

The firm did not cut salaries in 2008 or so far in 2009, and paid bonuses — but salaries are frozen. Buchanan Ingersoll will have a smaller summer class in 2009, and the firm’s starting associates will start on the normal date.

Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC is a law firm and lobbying group. The firm has over 500 lawyers in sixteen offices nationwide, and was ranked 82nd on the National Law Journal’s 2008 list of the 250 largest law firms in the United States.