Top 100 Law Firms in Pennsylvania
Issue link: https://palaw100.epubxp.com/i/95512
Firm Financials 2011 grew by 6.1 percent, from 446 attorneys to 473. That larger rise in headcount as com- pared to revenue caused a decrease in the firm's RPL of 1.6 percent from $615,000 in 2010 to $605,000 in 2011. The firm was able to inch up its PPP by 1 percent from $525,000 to $530,000. Last year was the second year since Ballard Spahr moved to a one-tier partner system. Though the firm had said at the end of 2010 that it had too many partners, that number increased in 2011. The partner tier edged up 2.7 percent from 221 partners to 227 in 2011. Ballard Spahr's net income increased 3 per- cent from $116.5 million to $120 million, but the profit margin dipped a percentage point to 42 percent because expenses weren't held back at a rate higher than revenue increased. Revenue wasn't able to match headcount growth in part because of a downturn in the public finance practice. While that practice was strong in 2010, it was the only practice to see a decrease in revenue in 2011, as no one was doing public finance deals last year, Chair- man Mark Stewart said. But Stewart said he expected that practice to rebound as it was up $1 million in revenue from the same time last year. DUANE MORRIS Duane Morris saw all-time highs in its gross revenue, PPP and RPL metrics in 2011, accord- ing to firm CEO and Chairman John J. Soroko. The firm grew its revenue by about 1.1 per- cent, from $411.1 million in 2010 to $415.6 mil- lion in 2011. Duane Morris saw its profit margin rise from 27 percent in 2010 to 28 percent in 2011 and its net income grow 4 percent, from $113.1 million to $117.6 million. According to Soroko, the firm did make "modest" rate increases in the range of 3 to 4 percent in 2011, but noted that the firm's increase in PPP was not achieved by shuffling partners between its equity and nonequity partner tiers. The firm went from 136 equity partners in 2010 to 137 in 2011 for a 0.7 percent increase and from 217 nonequity partners in 2010 to 219 in 2011 for an increase of 0.9 percent. Total compensation for nonequity partners remained flat at about $77.4 million in 2011, after having fallen 4.7 percent from $81.2 mil- lion to $77.4 million between 2009 and 2010. The firm's PPP rose about 3.2 percent from RPL PPP RPL PPP RPL PPP 0 0.25 $671,000 $859,000 $654,000 $832,000 $633,000 $753,000 0.5 0.75 Gross Revenue: $415.6M Equity Partners: 137 Total Attorneys: 619 Gross Revenue: $411.1M Equity Partners: 136 Total Attorneys: 629 Gross Revenue: $387.7M Equity Partners: 130 Total Attorneys: 613 1 1.25 1.5 (RPL and PPP in Millions) 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 RPL PPP RPL PPP RPL PPP 0 0.25 $666,000 $711,000 $625,000 $660,000 $605,000 $600,000 0.5 Gross Revenue: $385M Equity Partners: 186 Total Attorneys: 579 Gross Revenue: $376M Equity Partners: 185 Total Attorneys: 602 Gross Revenue: $373M Equity Partners: 193 Total Attorneys: 621 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 (RPL and PPP in Millions) $832,000 in 2010 to $859,000 in 2011 and its RPL rose 2.6 percent from $654,000 in 2010 to $671,000 in 2011. Meanwhile, its overall headcount dropped 1.6 percent to 619 lawyers in 2011, down from 629 lawyers in 2010. Soroko said the firm lost some partners but added some associates over the course of the year, which he views as a "healthy trade-off" moving forward. DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath saw its revenue rise to an all-time high in 2011 after staying nearly flat the year before. The firm's gross revenue went up about 2.4 percent from $376 million in 2010 to $385 mil- lion in 2011. Drinker's executive and managing partner, Andrew C. Kassner, said the firm had a "strong year in what everyone acknowledged was a choppy legal environment." According to Kassner, the firm continued its strategy in 2011 of maintaining a balanced practice comprising 50 percent litigation and 50 percent business. Along with revenue, the firm saw its PPP jump about 7.7 percent from $660,000 in 2010 to $711,000 in 2011. Its profit margin went up two percentage points from 32 percent in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011. The firm did see its overall headcount drop 3.8 percent, from 602 lawyers in 2010 to 579 lawyers in 2011, but Kassner attributed this decrease to a combination of retirements and attorneys leaving for other opportunities, including going in-house with clients, as the job market began to open up. According to the survey it filled out for The (continued on page 104) PaLaw 2012 | 103 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2009 DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH 2010 2011 2009 DUANE MORRIS 2010 2011