Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Bryan Cave LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Bryan Cave
- Designation: National
- Head Count: 990
- Gross Revenues: $624,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $630,000
- Profits Per Partner: $745,000
- Year Over Year Change: 9
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
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 46 | 9 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 46 | 9 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 29 | 4 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 106 | 15 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 154 | 18 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Summer programs |
In the News
Amici organizations and lawyers in the DOMA case
: The National Law Journal : March 13, 2013
Chicago Legal Department of the Year Winner: US FOODS INC.
: The National Law Journal : March 11, 2013
Deals & Suits
: Corporate Counsel : March 1, 2013
Eight Real Estate Attorneys Join Fox Rothschild From Day Pitney
David Gialanella : New Jersey Law Journal : February 27, 2013
Fox Rothschild is opening a Morristown office, staffed with lawyers who of late were the core of Day Pitney's New Jersey transactional real estate practice.
Eight Real Estate Attorneys Bolt From Day Pitney to Fox Rothschild in N.J.
David Gialanella : New Jersey Law Journal : February 25, 2013
Fox Rothschild is opening a Morristown office, staffed with lawyers who of late were the core of Day Pitney's New Jersey transactional real estate practice.
Eight-Lawyer Garden State Real Estate Teams Bolts From Day Pitney to Join Fox Rothschild
David Gialanella : New Jersey Law Journal : February 25, 2013
In its fourth acquisition in 18 months, Fox Rothschild has lured the bulk of Day Pitney's New Jersey transactional real estate practice on the way to launching a Morristown office.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : February 22, 2013
Pepper Hamilton hires five attorneys from Linklaters to bolster its white-collar practice in New York; Paul Hastings private client lawyers head to Bryan Cave; and Troutman Sanders snatches two Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton attorneys for its financial institution practice. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Lawyers hatch deal for bill to limit bad faith cases
Kathleen Baydala Joyner : Daily Report : February 21, 2013
Lawyers for plaintiffs and insurance interests appear to have compromised on a bill that would make it somewhat harder for plaintiffs to bring bad faith claims against defendants' insurance companies. Rep. Jay Powell (above), HB 326's lead sponsor: the sides couldn't come together last year.
New Partners 2013
Mary Helen Martin, Special to the Daily Report : Daily Report : February 18, 2013
Not long after Atlanta attorney Jay Latzak joined the Powell Goldstein law firm in 2007, the economy slid into a full recession, and the real estate market bottomed out. Latzak, a real estate attorney, saw his career come to a screeching halt.
The Am Law 100, the Early Numbers: In Wake of Holme Roberts Tie-up, Bryan Cave Sees Revenue Rise and Profits Dip
Jan Wolfe : The Am Law Daily : February 11, 2013
The St. Louis–based firm started the year with a merger that expanded its presence out west and ended it with gross revenues up and profits per partner down slightly, according to The American Lawyer's reporting.
- Adams and Reese
- Akerman Senterfitt
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Allen & Overy
- Ashurst
- Baker & McKenzie
- Brown Rudnick
- Buist Moore
- Cahill Gordon & Reindel
- Carlton Fields
- Clayton Utz
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Diamond McCarthy
- DLA Piper
- Dorsey & Whitney
- Dreier LLP
- Freehills
- Freshfields
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Herbert Smith
- Herrick, Feinstein
- Hogan Lovells
- Howrey
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- McKool Smith
- Minter Ellison
- Moore & Van Allen
- Morrison & Foerster
- Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
- Nexsen Pruet
- Nixon Peabody
- Norton Rose
- O?Melveny & Myers
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman
- Potter Anderson & Corroon
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Richards, Layton & Finger
- Ropes & Gray
- Ruden McClosky
- Shea & Gould
- Shearman & Sterling
- Simmons & Simmons
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- White & Case
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
