Nothing Grows Forever

The Am Law 100 Report is now online.

Says The American Lawyer's editor-in-chief Aric Press and Am Law Data Analyst John O'Connor:

For the first time since 1991, both average profits per partner and revenue per lawyer dipped last year among the Am Law 100 firms, the top-grossing firms in the nation. And, given the weakness in the market thus far in 2009, another decline seems likely this year.

Continues Law.com's Legal Blog Watch writer Carolyn Elefant: The news for 2008 wasn't entirely bleak, with overall gross revenue growing by 4.1 percent, to $67 billion, a new record. But because of growth in head count and a drop in demand, particularly in the corporate and finance sectors, profits per partner (PPP) fell by 4.3 percent, to an average of $1.26 million, and revenue per lawyer (RPL) dropped 1.2 percent, to $818,000.