Gross revenue falls 20 percent at Dickstein Shapiro in an 'investment year'
Dickstein Shapiro had “an investment year” in 2013 when its gross revenue fell 20 percent, according to firm chairman James Kelly.
Net income saw a bigger drop of almost 35 percent, but revenue per lawyer declined only 3 percent, Legal Times reports. In an interview with Legal Times, Kelly said the firm has a portfolio of contingent cases that didn’t bring in income last year. “Just because you work a case in a particular year doesn’t mean you get paid on a case in a particular year,” he said.
The firm cut about 20 percent of its lawyer positions last year, affecting all lawyers. At the end of 2013, the firm had 254 lawyers. “It’s fair to say we restructured our workforce,” Kelly told Legal Times. “It’s fair to say there’s a variety of factors taken into account.”
Kelly said business from the firm’s 50 largest clients nearly doubled in the past five years, reflecting the firm’s strategy of catering to those companies. “We made a strategic commitment to be a market-leading specialty firm,” he said. “We decided we’re not going to be everything to everyone.”
Kelly became chairman of Dickstein on Jan. 1, replacing 10-year chairman Michael Nannes.
