Pittsburgh’s Reed Smith reports a 10% increase in gross revenue to $980 million in 2008, on the back of significant lateral expansion.
But profits per equity partner were down to $935,000, 6.5% below the $1 million milestone reached in 2007. Revenue per lawyer fell a comparatively modest 3.5 percent, to $660,000.
The presence of Reed Smith’s largest office in London, with roughly 350 lawyers, hurt revenues this year because of the weaker British pound. In the absence of currency fluctuations, the firm would have joined the “billion-dollar club.”
The surge in revenue reflects a number of noteworthy expansions. In January 2008, 110 Richards Butler lawyers in Hong Kong and Beijing joined Reed Smith, mainly in transactional specialties. That same month, 55 New York lawyers joined from Anderson Kill, predominantly in restructuring and insurance litigation. At year-end, Reed Smith also picked up a clutch of lawyers from the corpse of Thelen for its offices around the country, including its newly opened office in Silicon Valley.
