by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - December 11, 2008 - 'The Greatest' Philosophy
law.com republished an interesting article (that first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on wAmericanLawyer.com) called “Partners Bringing In Less Revenue, Wachovia Survey Finds” written by American Lawyer Writer Nate Raymond. In his article, Raymond notes that America's top law firms are bringing in 4 percent less revenue than they did in 2007, according to Wachovia Survey conducted by Jeffrey Grossman, National Managing Director at Wachovia Corp.'s Legal Specialty Group.
So far this year, equity partners at the nation's top law firms are bringing in 4 percent less revenue than they did in 2007, according to a new survey.
"That's the first time we've seen that in a long time," says Jeffrey Grossman, a managing director at Wachovia Corp.'s legal specialty group, which conducted the survey.
The survey, which Wachovia provided details of on Monday, found that gross revenue for firms was up by 7 percent through September. But that number was mainly a product of larger groups of lawyers billing less, Wachovia says. Hours per attorney were down 4.5 percent on average, Grossman says.
Third quarter results show the biggest reductions thus far to be reduction of associates and administrative staff, which dropped 18 percent. Grossman indicates that law firm billing rates are expected to increase for 2009.
While associate cuts make headlines, the bigger reduction among those firms has been in administrative staff, which dropped 18 percent through September, Grossman says. Yet for all the staff and associate reductions, Grossman says it's too late to make a difference in 2008 end-of-the-year results.
Firms are expected to increase billing rates in 2009, but at a fraction of the increases instituted for 2008. Firms are increasing rates 5 percent on average, Wachovia found. The median rate increase is 4 percent. That is "significantly lower" than 2008, Grossman says, which saw increases of 6.5 to 7 percent, according to the firms surveyed.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
