A recent article in the Recorder, SF’s legal newspaper, reports on CA firm financials for 2012. While revenue gains were modest, many firms noticeably increased their profits. The article attributes the increase partly to expense cutting, but mainly to reduced headcount, particularly among firm partnership ranks. The increases experienced by firms whose biggest offices are in Silicon Valley were the result of increased demand for their tech expertise, rather than trimming ranks. In fact, some Silicon Valley firms actually increased headcount.
There are several interesting insights into big law firm business operations that will be useful to those of you heading to large firms (or considering interviewing with them in the fall).