“Despite the coronavirus pandemic and recession that made life so miserable for millions last year, law firms did very well for themselves,” writes David Lat in Lateral Link’s Lat’s Legal Letter.

Of the 29 firms listed in the newsletter, “all posted increases in profit per partner, many of them well into the double digits. The highest figure so far, a 46.6 percent increase, was reported by Crowell & Moring (which led me to declare Crowell my Law Firm of the Week last week). But the firm had plenty of company, with eight other firms posting PPEP increases of 20 percent or more.”

“Now, the increases in profit per partner might be somewhat understandable, given how the pandemic and working remotely led to dramatic drops in many firms’ expenses, such as rent (in some cases), utilities, travel, and entertainment. And yes, some firms did engage in layoffs last year as well.”

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“Stepping into his role as global co-chair of 4,500-lawyer DLA Piper, Frank Ryan says the best path forward is to get even bigger,” reports Roy Strom in Bloomberg Law’s Business & Practice.

“The law firm wants to compete, Ryan said, for high-end, global projects while also providing “full-service” to clients, a strategy many of the country’s most profitable firms have shied away from to focus on the highest-rate practices. Growing revenue by taking market share is how Ryan said he will measure the firm’s success.”

“Ryan, whose intellectual property and litigation practice focuses on clients in the sports and entertainment industries, was elected in May 2019 to begin this year a four-year term as chair of DLA Piper, the third largest U.S. firm by revenue, according to American Lawyer data. Last year, he said the firm’s U.S. business grew revenue and profits per equity partner in the high single digits.”

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“Frost Brown Todd (FBT) is formally consolidating its federal public policy and regulatory practices into a Washington D.C. office. The Mid-American firm now has 15 offices across nine states and Washington D.C. In addition to recruiting new members, a roster of nearly a dozen well-networked and experienced attorneys who represent their client’s needs in their home markets, including Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky and on the federal level, will support the office. It will operate virtually due to the pandemic and move into a permanent address later when quarantines are lifted,” released Frost Brown Todd in their Press Releases.

“FBT’s bi-partisan government service counsel has held high-ranking government positions at the national, state, or local levels. Others have served in an advisory capacity to prominent lawmakers, cabinet members, and federal commissions, and advocated for clients before federal regulatory authorities.”

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“Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce that the firm reported revenue of $417,056,000 in 2020. This figure represents the highest single-year revenue total in the firm’s 104-year history,” released Husch Blackwell in their News Releases.

“Complementing the total revenue record, the firm also posted year-over-year growth in revenue of 9.7 percent, which represents the firm’s fastest pace of organic revenue growth—growth unrelated to a merger or business combination—in well over a decade.”

“On March 18, 2020, Husch Blackwell’s leadership team sent all employees home, except for a small contingent of essential onsite workers in select offices, and quickly adopted a work-from-home protocol that enabled the vast majority of the firm’s 1,500 employees to service clients from a remote location. The firm remains in its work-from-home protocol nearly one year later.”

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“Big Law continues to report large ‘pandemic profit’ growth, as Cooleys and White & Case report double digit growth in 2020, while Hogan Lovells reports profits per partner (PPP) jumping 30 per cent from 2019 to 2020,” posts LawFuel in their Big Law.

“The pandemic has seen revenues remain steady while expenses have been reduced and more firms are investing in technology and legal talent.”

“Global turnover for White & Case managed to grow 6.6 [per cent to $2.18bn, while profit per equity partner (PEP) was up over eight per cent to $2.59m, albeit against a drop of 10 equity partners to 332 worldwide.”

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“The former co-chairman of a major New York law firm has been suspended from practicing law for two years after pleading guilty and spending time in prison over his role in the U.S. college admissions scandal,” reports Nate Raymond in Reuters’ U.S. News.

“Gordon Caplan, who had been co-chairman at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, avoided disbarment despite his efforts to avoid “getting caught,” according to a Thursday decision by a New York appellate court imposing the suspension.”

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“Legal Innovators, an alternative legal services provider focused on innovative talent management solutions, and Orrick, a global law firm known for talent innovation, are collaborating on a pilot program through which two Legal Innovators lawyers will join Orrick’s incoming class of law school graduates as ‘Orrick Legal Innovators’ Fellows.’ In addition, a larger group of diverse lawyers joining Orrick this year will participate in a Legal Innovators-led training program,” posts Legal Innovators in their News.

“Through this collaboration, Orrick’s Legal Innovators Fellows will be fully integrated into Orrick client teams while continuing to receive the support of Legal Innovators’ unique training and mentorship program. After their second year with the firm, the Fellows may be offered full-time associate positions.”

“Under the pilot, five new Orrick associates also participated in the Legal Innovators training program, which helps lawyers develop analytical, writing and business development skills. The Legal Innovators’ training program was designed by David Cruickshank, Principal at Edge International and the former head of Professional Development for Paul Weiss, and Legal Innovators co-founder and Chairman, Jonathan Greenblatt.”

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‘The alternative legal service provider (ALSP) market has ‘reached a point of maturity’, with US law firms and corporate legal departments using them for a wider remit of work, according to a Thomson Reuters survey,” reports Ben Edwards in The Global Legal Post’s Big Stories.

“The Alternative Legal Service Providers 2021 Survey … found that 79% of law firms and 71% of in-house teams now engage ALSPs for legal work compared to 51% and 61% respectively in 2016.”

“The report stated: ‘In general, this round of research shows an increasing sense of collaboration, rather than competition between law firms and independent
The survey highlighted the top three areas where law firms use ALSPs is for electronic discovery services (45%), legal research services (44%) and litigation and investigation support (39%). By contrast, the top three areas where in-house teams engage ALSPs is for regulatory risk and compliance services (35%), legal research services (29%) and specialised legal services provided by licensed lawyers (26%).'”

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Paul Hastings, a firm whose 2019 gross revenue was over $1.2B announced its year-end bonuses, and special bonuses, back in December 2020, reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“At the time, those special bonuses were only available for ‘qualifying associates’, i.e., those who had billed enough. Associates were understandably very upset.”

The firm announced an update about its regular bonuses and special bonuses last week.

“Everyone who qualified for a regular bonus will now receive a special bonus, too. On top of that, supplemental bonuses are now on the table. Paul Hastings sure knows how to make its associates feel loved.”

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“Recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, Biglaw firms have started to implement strategies to improve how their workforces operate when it comes to moving toward achieving equity,” writes Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“We’ve previously acknowledged Dorsey & Whitney, Hogan Lovells, Reed Smith, and Cooley as firms where approved diversity and inclusion-related work will be billable for attorneys and will count toward bonus thresholds. We’ve just received word that yet another leading law firm has had a successful program like this that’s been quietly running since summer 2020 — and this firm is offering the highest number of billable diversity and inclusion hours we’ve heard of yet.”

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“Jacksonville’s former public defender may lose his right to practice law for the next six months after filing a voluntary guilty plea for ethics violations committed when he held the job …,” writes Dan Scanlan from the Florida Times-Union’s News.

“The Florida Bar said Shirk agreed to the suspension in a conditional plea in an 11-page document, which will be presented to the Florida Supreme Court for a final decision. If he is suspended from practicing law, he must have “proof of rehabilitation” prior to his reinstatement. He also is required to pay for the disciplinary costs.”

“Shirk is a private attorney in Jacksonville, handling criminal defense and immigration law. He could not be reached for comment following a text message and call.”

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“Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP reported revenues of USD $1.73 Billion for FY 2020, the seventh consecutive year of record revenue, and a 5.48% increase over the previous year. The firm also announced the elevation of 44 attorneys to shareholder and of counsel,” posted Greenberg Traurig in their Recent News.

“Greenberg Traurig’s 30 new shareholders span 17 offices and 12 practice areas. The 14 attorneys elevated to of counsel or counsel come from nine different offices and practice in six areas of law.”

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“Wigdor said Friday that Christine Hogan is joining the employment plaintiffs firm as a partner in New York from Littler Mendelson, where she worked defending employers for more than decade,” reports Chinekwu Osakwe in Westlaw Today.

“As a Littler partner, Hogan represented large companies and organizations in individual and class action litigation involving discrimination, harassment and wage and hour claims, with a clientele that has included The American Museum of Natural History, United Parcel Service Inc, Uber Technologies Inc and Walgreens Co.”

“But she said the pandemic gave her a chance to reevaluate her career, and she decided to make a change.”

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“Already the world’s highest-grossing law firm, Kirkland & Ellis has seen strong growth across all of its strongest areas,” reports Lawyer Monthly.

“Insiders at the Chicago-based firm said that its turnover was approaching $5 billion for the twelve months to the end of January, up from $4.45 billion in the previous year.”

“Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by revenue and the seventh-largest by number of attorneys. It is also the first law firm to have made $4 billion in annual revenue, a record it is now poised to beat.”

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“The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Formal Ethics Opinion 495 confirms what many have said is the law under ABA Model Rule 5.5 for a while now: Lawyers can sit in a jurisdiction in which they are not licensed so long as they are licensed in a U.S. jurisdiction and are ‘invisible’ as a lawyer where they sit,” posts Nellie Q. Barnard in Holland & Knight’s Insights.

“Still, this confirmation will come as welcome news to many who have either been forced or chosen to relocate outside of their licensed jurisdiction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Formal Opinion does caveat that it does not apply to those jurisdictions that have already affirmatively barred such “invisible lawyering,” though it does not identify any such jurisdiction.”

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“Legal tech company LawAdvisor is unveiling two new products for corporate legal departments and law firms with the help of Barclays plc and several law firms, including Bird & Bird,” reports Sara Merken in Thomas Reuters’ Westlaw Today.

“The London-based company said it worked closely with a ‘steering group’ that included the financial services giant and other international law firms such as Paul Hastings, Allen & Overy, Simmons & Simmons and Ashurst to get a better sense of challenges facing the legal industry.”

“The new products, which are customizable, have already been available to a select group of LawAdvisor’s clients, said Brennan Ong, the company’s CEO and founder. With Tuesday’s launch, the products are more widely available.”

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“Acritas, part of Thomson Reuters, unveiled the 2021 Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index today. Baker McKenzie retained the top spot for the 11th consecutive year, and DLA Piper remains second on the list. Dentons made the biggest move this year, up eight spots, from 11th to third. Linklaters was fourth, moving up four spots, and Clifford Chance and Hogan Lovells tied for fifth,” posts Jeff McCoy in MarketScreener’s News.

“In addition to Dentons and Linklaters, five firms increased their position on the index. The results highlight firms that benefitted from building long-lasting, trusted relationships as clients turned to them for strategic counsel and support. Additionally, firms with a true global presence, along with the capabilities to provide expertise and relationships on the ground locally, were able to strengthen their position in this unique environment.”

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“Fired in-house lawyer Paul MacNeal Davis isn’t happy with media reporting on his lawsuit that contends that voting changes resulted in an illegal election,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Daily News.

“As of Monday, Davis had filed eight documents in his lawsuit, while the defendants had not yet responded, Above the Law points out. One filing getting attention—and ridicule—was a request that the government be placed in stewardship, with a nod to Lord of the Rings.”

“Now, Davis is retreating from that request in a Jan. 25 legal filing, but the pundits haven’t eased up. Nor have his troubles, including overwork, threats and vandalism, he says in the filing.”

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Goodwin Procter just announced bonuses last week. The bonuses will match “the prevailing Baker McKenzie/Cravath scale,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“Associates at the firm must have met a 1,950 hourly threshold to be considered for a market bonus. Goodwin also uses a rating system when it comes to bonuses, and those who recorded hours ‘materially higher than 1,950 hours’ and received a ‘distinctive’ rating are eligible to receive bonuses that are above their class amounts. According to the firm, ‘43% of bonus recipients will receive an amount greater than the amount listed for their class, and 57% will receive their class amount.'”

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“About a decade ago, many law schools advertised somewhat misleading employment data. For instance, certain law schools listed the median starting salaries of graduates based on sample sizes that were unreasonably small so the statistic did not give an accurate picture of the salaries that graduates could expect,” reports Jordan Rothman in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“In addition, some law schools played games with the percentage of graduates employed at graduation and nine months after graduation so that the employment outcomes of these schools seemed better than they actually were. Thankfully, legal organizations and nonprofits, including Law School Transparency, helped highlight how certain law schools were providing potentially misleading statistics, and this started a shift in legal education. Indeed, it is much more difficult now for law schools to fudge their employment data, and this is good for law students and applicants.”

“However, law firms still routinely advertise misleading employment statistics, and that can have an impact on the decisions of individuals who may choose to apply for jobs at such firms. More effort should be devoted to reducing any potentially misleading statistics so that applicants can have an accurate picture of the employment data at a firm.”

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