Following a 2011 fiscal year in which its revenue stayed nearly flat, Saul Ewing saw its 2012 revenue shoot up 7.8 percent despite only a modest increase in headcount.
Managing partner David S. Antzis attributed this financial growth spurt to a "strategic vision" focused on improving client service and increasing market share, which enabled the firm to snag some significant work from the jaws of its larger competition.
The firm's revenue increased from $122.5 million in 2011 to $132 million in 2012.
Meanwhile, its overall headcount increased by only 3.2 percent, from 219 lawyers to 226, but its revenue per lawyer (RPL) increased by 4.5 percent, from $560,000 to $585,000.
In addition, the firm's profits per partner (PPP) went up 12 percent, from $500,000 to $560,000, while its equity partner tier decreased by only two lawyers, from 83 to 81.
Antzis said that while a lot of large firms increase their revenue each year by adding more attorneys without increasing their profitability, Saul Ewing's revenue increased in 2012 simply because its existing lawyers brought in more business.
According to Antzis, the firm was involved in several significant matters on both the litigation and transactional sides.
For example, the firm's Baltimore litigation team won a favorable ruling for the city's police and firefighter unions when a Maryland federal judge struck down the mayor's plan to overhaul the police and fire pension system.
On the transactional side, Saul Ewing attorneys in Boston represented real estate client KS Partners in its $65 million purchase of New Boston Fund Inc.'s office portfolio in Connecticut.
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