Drinker Biddle Revenue Up, Partner Profits Down

Law Firms

Drinker Biddle Revenue Up, Partner Profits Down

Posted Apr 24, 2008, 05:25 am CDT
By Molly McDonough

At nearly 160 years old, Drinker Biddle & Reath is as healthy as ever, with soaring revenues thanks to a merger with Chicago's Gardner Carton & Douglas.

The Legal Intelligencer reports that after the merger, both the firm's revenue and headcount grew by more than 40 percent. Leadership also organized a new practice group management system that was more industry-focused.

All that change had to come at a price. And the price was partner profit. While the revenue per lawyer increased by 2.5 percent, the legal newspaper reports that profits per equity partner dropped 1.7 percent and average compensation for all partners dropped 4.9 percent.

In comparing profits from 2006 to 2007, the Intelligencer said gross revenue increased 45 percent from $246 million to $357 million. Per partner profit dropped from $585,000 to $575,000.

"If you're going to grow over 40 percent in one year, there's a cost," managing partner Andrew C. Kassner told the paper. "When I use the term investment, that's literally what it was."

Kassner acknowledged that the drop in average compensation was because of a rise of nonequity partners coming to the firm from Chicago.

In 2008, the firm will continue to expand its labor and employment practice and grow in targeted markets, especially in the mid-Atlantic, Midwest, West Coast and Washington, D.C.

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