Summary: The quarterly report conducted by Citi Private Bank was not a good sign when compared to the growth in reports done last year at the same time.
Citi Private Bank conducts a quarterly survey of 178 firms to find out the basis of the legal market. The third quarter report did not turn out the way law firms would want. Predictions expected a challenging second half of the year and that is exactly what happened.
See the following for more information about the legal market:
- Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group Financial Report for the First Half of 2015
- Citi Private Bank’s Quarterly Report Shows Moderate Confidence
- State of the Market – Fall 2015
The survey includes 83 Am Law 100 firms, 42 Am Law 200 firms, and 53 boutique firms. In the results from last year’s survey of the firms, growth was moving upwards at this time of the year. This time revenue growth is down and expense growth is up, causing the assumption that profit growth and revenue for 2015 will fall short.
The first nine months of the year showed a revenue increase of 3.6 percent, with growth in demand and rates driving this number up. However, the revenue results were still lower than the four percent from the year before. The numbers were not all bad and are not alarming enough to be considered. Overall, the legal industry trends are still improving and growing.
Citi Private Bank works with over 600 U.S. and U.K. law firms and over 35,000 individual lawyers. Their Law Firm Group is responsible for the survey each quarter.
Source: http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202741991889/Citi-Report-Law-Firms-Face-Slowdown-in-Demand
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