NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - This just in: Lawyers want
more money.
The results of a survey released today by law-firm
consultants Altman Weil Inc. found that nearly all law firms
had increased or planned to increase the fees that they charge
clients this year.
A full 95 percent of the firms responding were billing or
planned to bill at rates higher in 2011 compared with 2010, the
survey found. The median increase in billing rates was 4
percent.
The rise in rates is a reflection of high confidence among
law firms, even as the overall economy continues to falter.
Three quarters of firms surveyed reported an uptick in revenue
and profits per lawyer in 2010, according to the survey. About
half the participating firms reported that they reduced
overhead costs in 2010. At the same time, firms indicated they
had become more flexible about billing rates. Just over half of
the firms with 250 lawyers or more said they used alternative
fee arrangements that were less profitable than projects billed
on an hourly basis.
"If firms are finding their feet again post-recession, it
is on new ground with a number of new factors in play," said
Tom Clay, a principal with Altman Weil who co-authored the
survey, in a press release.
The survey, conducted in April and May of this year, polled
managing partners and chairmen of 805 U.S. law firms with 50
lawyers or more. Of those firms, 240 completed the survey,
including 38 percent of the 250 largest U.S. law firms. The
survey results did not identify billing rate dollar amounts.
Altman Weil principal Eric Seeger co-authored the survey.
Cuts to equity and non-equity partner ranks continued in
2011, with about 17 percent of law firms reporting that they
would make cuts to equity partners and 21 percent reporting
that they would trim non-equity partners this year.
Of the law firms reporting, 87 percent said they planned to
add associates in 2011, and only 18 percent planned to remove
associates. Eighty-eight percent said they had fewer support
staffers in 2011.
(Reporting by Leigh Jones)