Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Drinker Biddle & Reath
- Designation: Philadelphia
- Head Count: 572
- Gross Revenues: $392,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $685,000
- Profits Per Partner: $715,000
- Year Over Year Change: no change
While this Philadelphia–based firm goes a long way back—to 1849, to be precise—it is a relatively new entrant on The Am Law 100, making its first appearance in 2003. Fueling the firm’s growth is a series of mergers in recent years. The most significant of these was the firm’s 2007 union with Chicago’s Gardner Carton & Douglas, which gave Drinker a stronger presence in the Midwest (it now has 11 offices in the region) and added expertise in health law, employee benefits and executive compensation, hedge funds, and government and regulatory affairs, among other areas.
By some key metrics, however, Drinker, which numbers some 600 lawyers, still ranks well outside the top 100 firms. Diversity (150th place on The American Lawyer’s 2011 ranking), pro bono work (112th of 200 firms in 2011), and associate satisfaction (115th of 126 firms on our 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey) are areas ripe for improvement.
Still, there is one place where Drinker has stood out from the crowd. While other firms were deferring first–year associate start dates during the economic downturn, Drinker came up with an innovative training program, in which associates would start in the fall, as always, but spend their first months largely in a classroom setting learning the ropes from partners and other instructors. They wouldn’t be expected to bill work during that time, and in effect, the cost of training was passed from clients to the firm (no small thing for either party during a recession). The program was such a hit that Drinker continues it to this day.
Drinker has a sizable presence in the nation’s capital—with 97 lawyers, it was the forty–eighth largest D.C. office in 2011. But it is the New York office that has the most compelling—and heart–stopping—back story. It was based on the eighty–ninth floor of One World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. After a tense 14 hours, all lawyers and staff were accounted for and safe.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 74 | no change | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 74 | no change | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 70 | 6 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 112 | 2 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 158 | 8 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 115 | 28 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 24 | 3 | Summer programs |
In the News
D.C. MOVES
: The National Law Journal : May 20, 2013
Drinker's Request for Depositions Denied in ExxonMobil Case
Mary Pat Gallagher : New Jersey Law Journal : May 20, 2013
Drinker Biddle & Reath has lost a nearly five-year-long battle to obtain deposition transcripts from an environmental suit against ExxonMobil for use in defending its own clients in other litigation.
Ubic Holds IPO on NASDAQ Exchange, More News May 13 to 17
Michael Roach : Law Technology News : May 17, 2013
Asian e-discovery provider Ubic Inc. had its initial public offering Thursday on the NASDAQ stock market; and more legal industry news May 13-17.
Subsequent Mortgagees Get No Satisfaction From Forged Statement
Andrew C. Kassner and Joseph N. Argentina Jr. : The Legal Intelligencer : May 17, 2013
In Secured Lending 101, we learn that the general rule is "first in time, first in right." Well, how does one determine who is "first in time"? Generally, secured lenders may rely on state and county recording offices to determine the priority of their lien against a borrower's property.
Judge Denies OPRA Request for Depositions in ExxonMobil Case
Mary Pat Gallagher : New Jersey Law Journal : May 15, 2013
Drinker Biddle & Reath has lost a nearly five-year-long battle to obtain deposition transcripts from an environmental suit against ExxonMobil for use in defending its own clients in other litigation.
Drinker Biddle & Reath v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
— Judith Nallin : New Jersey Law Journal : May 15, 2013
The unfiled discovery that plaintiff seeks is exempt from public disclosure under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9b, and its common-law right-of-access claim is denied because the state's interests in confidentiality outweigh plaintiff's interest in disclosure.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
Dickstein Shapiro loses a partner to Jones Day in Washington, D.C.; Bryan Cave poaches five attorneys from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; and a former Dewey & LeBoeuf partner, most recently with Linklaters, joins KPMG. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Harrisburg SEC Case Serves as a Cautionary Tale for Cities
Gina Passarella : The Legal Intelligencer : May 10, 2013
Municipalities aren't the sophisticated issuers of securities their corporate counterparts may be, but that doesn't give them a pass under the law.
Law Firms Looking Closer at Pricing Analysis
Gina Passarella : The Legal Intelligencer : May 10, 2013
After a few years of collecting financial data and applying project management techniques to the legal process, law firms are beginning to dedicate resources to pricing analysis.
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