For Bryan Cave, a year that began with a merger that expanded the St. Louis–based firm's presence out west ended with gross revenue up and profits per partner down slightly, according to The American Lawyer's reporting.
Bryan Cave, which added 17 equity partners when it absorbed Denver-based Holme Roberts & Owen as of January 1, 2012, had $624 million in gross revenue in 2012—an 11.9 percent increase over what it took in the previous year. The firm's profits per equity partner, meanwhile, fell 3.2 percent, from $770,000 to $745,000. Revenue per lawyer was essentially flat at $630,000.
All told, Bryan Cave's attorney head count rose 12 percent last year, from 884 to 990. Of the 106 lawyers the firm added—most of whom came aboard as the result of the Holme Roberts tie-up, 43 were nonequity partners. Some Holme Roberts lawyers who were equity partners at the Colorado-based firm lost that status following the merger, according to a January 30, 2012, Denver Business Journal story. Randy Miller, managing partner of Bryan Cave's Colorado offices, told the publication that, in accordance with the firm's policies, many of those lawyers were given "of counsel" titles because they were either semiretired or nearing retirement. (Bryan Cave declined to make any of its leaders available for an interview.)
In addition to boosting Bryan Cave's presence in Colorado—where Holme Roberts had three offices—the merger allowed the firm to beef up preexisting offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Bryan Cave did shutter one office it inherited from Holme Roberts, a Salt Lake City outpost that lost much of its talent to Holland & Hart ahead of the merger. Bryan Cave now has a total of 26 offices—19 in the United States, and the rest spread across Europe and Asia. An affiliated trade and customs consulting business, Bryan Cave International Consulting, operates in seven Asian countries.
This report is part of The Am Law Daily's early coverage of 2012 financial results of The Am Law 100/200. See our interactive chart. Final rankings and full results for The Am Law 100 will be published in The American Lawyer's May 2013 issue and on AmericanLawyer.com. The Am Law Second Hundred will be published in the June issue.
