Survey of Law Firm Economics

I have some interesting stats for you today:

1.  According to The American Lawyer, despite the fact that the U.S. economy lost a total of 54,000 jobs in August, the legal sector handed out 1,000 jobs last month, marking the second straight month of improved numbers for our industry.

2.  According to the Survey of Law Firm Economics, a joint project of ALM Legal Intelligence and The National Law Journal, rough economic winds battered small and midsize firm revenues during 2009 -- though cuts in expenses helped those firms eke out small increases in profits.  The survey was open to U.S. firms of all sizes, but the majority of those had fewer than 150 lawyers. The results provide a deep look into the financial state of smaller and midsize players during fiscal year 2009.

 

3.  Other highlights from this survey also included:

 

• Equity partners in the East South Central region clocked the highest number of billable hours: 1,849. The lowest was New England, 1,512.

 

• Average expense per lawyer fell fastest in the Pacific region: -28%.

 

• Expense per lawyer climbed fastest in New England: +13%.

 

• New England firms had the highest ratio of staff to lawyers: 1.09 staffers for every lawyer. Middle Atlantic firms had the lowest: .78:1.

 

• Top realization rate: West North Central, 87.2%. Lowest: Pacific, 83.6%.

• Spending on support staff continued to decline, with ratios of support staff to attorneys reaching a nearly quarter-century low.

 

• Equity-partner pay made a bit of a rebound, climbing from $353,000 to $358,000.

 

• Women earn 76% of men’s salaries as equity partners, 85% at the non-equity level and 93% in the associate ranks.

 

What does this all mean? 

 

Not really sure…except that I’d like to be a male equity partner in a New England law firm charging New York rates.

 

You can check out the survey at: http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/SLFE_graphics.pdf