Bad Economy Didn’t Stop Large Law Firms from Adding Lawyers in 2008
DLA Piper has retained its position as the nation’s largest law firm, growing by 4.5 percent in 2008.
The law firm’s head count grew only slightly more than the average of 4.3 percent for the 250 law firms surveyed this year by the National Law Journal. DLA Piper had 3,785 lawyers while the second-largest firm, Baker & McKenzie, had 3,627 lawyers, according to the NLJ story on its survey results.
Rounding out the top five were Jones Day, Latham & Watkins and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
The figures show law firms aren’t growing as fast as in 2007, when the number of lawyers at NLJ 250 firms increased by 8.2 percent, the story says. The new survey covered the period ending Sept. 30.
The three law firms that grew the most in percentage terms all were the products of mergers, according to the NLJ story. Husch Blackwell Sanders grew by 89 percent, while Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell grew by 68 percent and K&L Gates grew by 25 percent.
The law firm that shrank the most in percentage terms was Powell Goldstein, which saw a 22 percent decline, the survey found. The firm has plans to merge with Bryan Cave in January.
Equity and nonequity partners made up about 40 percent of lawyers in NLJ 250 law firms, but the number of nonequity partners is growing, up 9.4 percent from last year in firms that provided the breakdowns.
Law firm consultant James Jones, vice president of Hildebrandt International, told the legal newspaper that the bad economy didn’t have a bigger impact on hiring for a couple of reasons. First, new associates are generally hired as students two years before their actual start date. Second, law firms need to hire new associates to replace large numbers of Baby Boomers expected to retire soon.
