Patton Boggs closes New Jersey office amid revenue drop
Patton Boggs is closing an unprofitable office in Newark, N.J., after the firm’s revenue dropped about 12 percent last year.
Patton Boggs managing partner Edward Newberry spoke to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the National Law Journal about the office closing after Politico broke the news.
The Newark office lost about $12 million last year after the conclusion of insurance work related to the Sept. 11 attacks, Newberry told the NLJ. Overall, firm revenue was down about 12 percent last year, he told the Law Blog.
Newberry said the office closing was part of a restructuring that began last year. “It was precisely according to the plan we laid out last July,” he told the NLJ. Eight to 12 of the 26 lawyers in Newark will move to the firm’s New York office, while six other lawyers will move to Florham Park, N.J., the Law Blog says.
The firm’s lawyer headcount has dropped from 485 lawyers in 2012 to about 380. “It puts us in a very lean posture, and our projections for profitability are quite strong in 2014,” he told the Law Blog.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Patton Boggs to cut equity partner roster from 98 to 80; firm’s income soared after earlier layoffs”