Seeming to defy the laws of supply and demand, hourly billing rates at national corporate law firms have increased 3 to 4 percent per year since the recession, according to Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group (The Wall Street Journal). In fact, they report, these rates have continued...
The frenzy of mergers between IP boutiques and national full-service firms shows no signs of abatement, The American Lawyer reports. Since April, at least eight IP firms have been acquired by Am Law 200 firms, driven largely in part by the recent changes in patent...
Partner moves were at their highest count yet in 2015, the "strongest year since 2009 for lateral partner moves at big law firms," according to The American Lawyer. ALM's Legal Intelligence branch (ALI) tracked lateral partner moves at Am Law 200 firms and found an astounding...
Intellectual property boutique Brinks, Gilson, & Leone lost four litigation partners to Midwest-based Barnes & Thornburg last week, according to The American Lawyer. This follows the recent trend for IP boutiques, many of which have either been absorbed by larger firms or have also had...
Who do the Fortune 500 corporations turn to when they need intellectual property litigators? According to a recent survey by The American Lawyer, these companies don't rely exclusively on the giant brand-name law firms, but instead often depend on mid-sized IP firms for their defense. See the survey...
The world's largest law firms are still feeling the heat from their stagnated approaches, as discussed in last week's post. A report released by CounselLink concluded that firms with 201 to 500 attorneys--termed "large enough" firms--are "increasingly winning the market share at the expense of...
Big law firms have always been pathologically conservative in updating their policies, but has this mentality begun to affect their overall profitability? The American Lawyer recently released an article investigating whether large firms’ aging partners, who often control a majority of the client base, habitually put their self-interests...
The National Law Journal recently released a review of the major legal news in Washington's 'big law' for 2015, including reports on the paramount moves and mergers, influential administrative changes, and the "reinvention" of the D.C. law practice. Dentons continues its reign as the world's largest firm, announcing ten...
The annual "Best 50 Law Firms for Women" list, released mid-year by Working Mother magazine, remains one of the key surveys of 2015. The list reports that law firms featured in the Best 50 employed more female equity partners, at twenty percent, than the national average (seventeen percent). The Best 50 compilation also boasts...
Does the increased transparency of firm finances benefit or vitiate its partners? A recent article by The American Lawyer investigates, positing that "as part-owners of the business, law firm partners have both a financial incentive and an ethical responsibility to take an active interest in the firm's strategic...