Paul Weiss Chairman Says 2009 Was the Most Profitable Ever
Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp is heralding his firm’s record partner profits last year—$2.69 million for each equity partner.
Karp tells the American Lawyer that 2009 was “the most profitable year in our firm’s history,” despite a decline in gross revenue of 3.8 percent. The firm’s fourth quarter was the firm’s busiest ever, he said, thanks in part to the firm’s representation of financial institutions navigating the financial crisis.
Rather than laying off lawyers, the firm increased its headcount slightly, going from 647 lawyers to 653, the story says.
Gross revenue in 2009 was $665.5 million, down from $692 million the year before. Profits per equity partner in 2009 were $2.69 million, up from $2.65 million the year before.
Hughes Hubbard & Reed also had a good year, the American Lawyer reports in a separate story. Its gross revenue of $277 million was 10 percent higher than the year before, and its profits per equity partner of $1.47 million was 9.7 percent higher.
Daniel Weiner, co-chair of Hughes Hubbard’s personnel committee, told the American Lawyer: “We had a very strong year—a lot of work on product liability and Lehman matters.”
