Top 100 Law Firms in Pennsylvania
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Firm Financials 2011 (continued from page 103) American Lawyer, the firm's equity partner- ship tier rose 0.5 percent from 185 lawyers in 2010 to 186 lawyers in 2011, while what the firm refers to as its "limited equity" partner- ship tier grew 7 percent from 71 to 76. But Kassner said the firm converted nine of those limited equity partners to full equity partners just after the December 31 cutoff for reporting its numbers to The American Lawyer. The growth in revenue and decrease in headcount caused the firm's RPL in 2011 to go up by 6.6 percent, from $625,000 to $666,000. STEVENS & LEE Stevens & Lee saw revenue dip by $1 million in 2011 and expenses rise more than 8 per- cent, but the firm was able to increase partner profits marginally through a reduction in equity partners and small rate increases. Revenue dropped just less than 1 percent from $114 million in 2010 to $113 million in 2011. RPL fell 0.7 percent from $685,000 to $680,000, and its PPP rose 1 percent from $1.005 million to $1.015 million. Average com- pensation for all partners dipped 0.7 percent to $690,000. Stevens & Lee President Ernie Choquette said his firm, like the rest of the industry and its clients, was faced with a "persistently dif- ficult economic environment" that was com- pounded for Stevens & Lee by the fact that 30 percent of the firm's revenue is transaction based. Not only were mergers and acquisitions down, but the resulting spin-off work from handling those deals for clients was also down, he said. Stevens & Lee is known for running a tight ship when it comes to expense management, averaging significantly lower attorney over- head than most Am Law 200 firms. That figure increased by about $5,000 to $6,000 per attor- ney, however, in 2011. The firm's net profits decreased 8.1 percent between 2010 and 2011, moving from $62 million to $57 million, despite having a flat headcount and fewer equity partners. The firm's profit margin fell from 54 percent in 2010 to 50 percent in 2011, still coming in as the highest of any Pennsylvania-based Am Law 200 firm. Stevens & Lee's headcount dropped by one lawyer to 166 in 2011. Over the years, the firm has moved away from a 1:1 leverage 104 | PaLaw 2012 model and closer to a 2:1 leverage model of lawyers who are not equity partners com- pared to those who are. The equity partner tier fell 9.7 percent in 2011 from 62 equity part- ners to 56. The nonequity tier lost one lawyer, falling to 53. SAUL EWING Saul Ewing saw its gross revenue barely rise and its PPP fall slightly in what managing part- ner David S. Antzis called a "stabilizing" year after experiencing big gains in 2010. The firm's revenue increased by about 0.8 percent, from $121.5 million in 2010 to $122.5 million in 2011. But Antzis said the firm's growth over the past two years is more impressive, pointing to the fact that its revenue shot up about 5.7 per- cent in 2010 from $115 million in 2009. Antzis reiterated this point with regard to the firm's PPP, which dipped by about 3 per- cent, from $515,000 in 2010 to $500,000 in 2011. According to Antzis, 2011's figure still repre- sents an increase of about 15 percent over two years since the firm saw a "tremendous spike" in that metric in 2010, when PPP grew by more than 18 percent, from $435,000 in 2009. The firm's headcount stayed nearly static in 2011, dropping by one attorney from 220 in 2010 to 219 in 2011. That slight change nudged the firm's RPL up by 1.8 percent, from $550,000 in 2010 to $560,000 in 2011. Meanwhile, its equity partner tier grew by about 3.8 percent, from 80 partners in 2010 to 83 in 2011, and its nonequity partner tier inched up by about 2.1 percent, from 48 attor- neys in 2010 to 49 in 2011. Antzis said the firm added nine new part- RPL PPP RPL PPP RPL PPP 0 0.25 $680,000 $1.01M $685,000 $1M $635,000 $905,000 0.5 0.75 1 Gross Revenue: $113M Equity Partners: 56 Total Attorneys: 166 Gross Revenue: $114M Equity Partners: 62 Total Attorneys: 167 Gross Revenue: $108.6M Equity Partners: 62 Total Attorneys: 171 1.25 1.5 (RPL and PPP in Millions) 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 RPL PPP RPL PPP RPL PPP 0 $560,000 $500,000 $515,000 $550,000 $435,000 $505,000 0.25 0.5 Gross Revenue: $122.5M Equity Partners: 83 Total Attorneys: 219 Gross Revenue: $121.5M Equity Partners: 80 Total Attorneys: 220 Gross Revenue: $115M Equity Partners: 81 Total Attorneys: 228 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 (RPL and PPP in Millions) 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2009 SAUL EWING 2010 2011 2009 STEVENS & LEE 2010 2011