Firm Profiles

For a firm whose 2012 headquarters lies across the street from its 1873 headquarters, Bryan Cave has certainly gotten around in a century and a half. A January 2012 merger with Denver’s Holme Roberts & Owen expands its reach into the Rocky Mountains, and adds capabilities in the energy, natural resources, and mining sectors. Of course, mergers—and expansion—aren’t anything new for the St. Louis–based firm. Over the years it has combined with multiple firms and, in the process, developed one of the industry’s more extensive global networks, with offices in some two dozen cities.

While Bryan Cave’s revenues place it around the top 50 of U.S. law firms, the firm has traditionally ranked well outside the top 100 on revenue per lawyer and profits per partner (the latter coming in at 132nd for 2010). An explanation can be found, in part, in Bryan Cave’s business model: It maintains regional billing fees, so lawyers in cities like Phoenix and Boulder are billed out at lower rates than colleagues in Chicago and New York.

Among the firm’s strengths are its litigation group, which has handled high–profile matters for financial services clients including mortgage broker Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and Countrywide Bank. An Asia–based consulting arm, Bryan Cave International Consulting, assists clients with the trade and customs regulatory landscape in Asia. Meanwhile, the firm’s Middle East practice, originally based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has been expanded to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Bryan Cave’s revenue per lawyer and profits per partner saw healthy increases in 2011, the upticks were partly the result of the firm increasing its revenue while shedding some attorneys (pre–Holme Roberts merger). Most of the departures came among the ranks of Bryan Cave’s nonequity partners, a trend seen at some other Am Law 100 firms who have been slower to replace departing partners than in years past.

By nonfinancial metrics, Bryan Cave scores far outside the upper reaches of U.S. firms. It placed 136th (of 194 firms) on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Diversity Scorecard (minorities constitute just 5 percent of the U.S. partnership). On pro bono work, Bryan Cave placed 106th (of 200 firms) on our 2011 survey. While lawyers averaged about 40 hours of nonpaying work, less than a third of the firm’s attorneys put in more than 20 hours.

—Updated as of 1/1/12