Law Firms
Bucking the Trend, Cleary Expected to Post 12% Hike in Partner Profits
Posted Jan 16, 2009, 06:51 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
As several large law firms confront dreary financial numbers, another is chugging along, driven by global diversification.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is expected to post a 12 percent increase in profits per partner and an 8 percent increase in gross revenue, the American Lawyer reports. Profits per partner for 2008 are expected to be $2.4 million and gross revenue to be $965 million, the publication says.
Revenue per lawyer remained almost flat, with a less than 1 percent drop. The publication attributes the good numbers to Cleary's global focus, with nearly half its lawyers stationed overseas. It has also landed some big projects in the United States, including the bankruptcies of Nortel Networks and Apex Silver Mines Limited.
Profits per partner are expected to drop 30 percent at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, 21 percent at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, and 12 percent at Mayer Brown.