Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Fish & Richardson P.C.
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Fish & Richardson
- Designation: National
- Head Count: 359
- Gross Revenues: $401,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $1,115,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,485,000
- Year Over Year Change: 3
Law, like life, offers no sure things. Yet every year it’s a pretty safe bet that Fish & Richardson will handle more patent litigation in the United States than any other firm. Indeed, in 2010, Fish handled 128 patent cases in federal district court, nearly twice as many as its closest competitor. That workload saw the firm named 2011’s most used patent litigation firm by The American Lawyer’s sister publication, Corporate Counsel—a designation Fish had gotten used to, having earned it the preceding seven years as well.
Founded in Boston in 1878, Fish has represented a dream team of technology giants over the years, from Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and the Wright Brothers in its early decades, to Microsoft Corporation today. (Fish’s success reversing $2 billion in damages awards against the software giant was a key factor in its selection as a finalist as The American Lawyer’s IP Litigation Department of the Year in 2010.) Fish’s lawyers, of whom more than 65 hold Ph.D.s, have also proven adept at turning revenue into profits. While Fish ranked an admirable fourth (of 84 firms) on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index—growing its revenues and profits per partner between 2007 and 2009—it embraced a leaner staffing model during the crisis and suffered two rounds of attorney (and staff) layoffs in 2009. Fish’s approximately 360 lawyers today represents a 100–attorney decrease from its 2008 head count.
Fish lawyers may not be out to save the world—the firm ranked 101st of 200 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 pro bono survey—but postrecession (and not coincidentally, postlayoffs) they’re a relatively happy lot, with the firm scoring twenty–fourth of 126 firms on the 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey (it was thirty–fourth of 137 firms in 2010).
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 72 | 3 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 72 | 3 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 123 | 1 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | 41 | 8 | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 101 | 30 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 38 | 2 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 24 | no change | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 76 | 56 | Summer programs |
In the News
MOVERS
: The National Law Journal : April 15, 2013
Rebekah Plowman and Kristen McDonald join Jones Day's health care practice as partners in the Atlanta office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.
Patent Lawyers Have High Hopes for PTO's Valley Branch
Joshua Sisco : The Recorder : April 12, 2013
Michelle Lee was chosen to create a local presence for an agency seen as remote and bureacratic.
MOVERS
: The National Law Journal : April 8, 2013
Heath Rosenblat joins Drinker Biddle & Reath's corporate restructuring practice group as counsel to the New York office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.
Protecting Trademark Owners
Sheri Qualters : The American Lawyer : April 1, 2013
New developments in technology and social media can put companies at risk: Ten tips for safeguarding clients' business interests in 2013.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : March 29, 2013
Jones Day hires a bankruptcy partner from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Cozen O'Connor loses the cochair of its family law practice to Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel; and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan expands in London. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Atmel's Law Department Runs On, and Shares, Data
Lisa Holton : The Recorder : March 27, 2013
Atmel's top lawyer likes to collect extensive in-house analytics and hand out report cards to go-to outside counsel.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : March 26, 2013
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan expands its Washington, D.C., office with a health care fraud expert; Fish & Richardson hires the head of Weil, Gotshal & Manges's Boston litigation practice; and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr gains two former government lawyers. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Chris Gober
: Texas Lawyer : March 25, 2013
Scott Wornow
Lisa Holton : The Recorder : March 21, 2013
Atmel's top lawyer likes to hand out report cards to go-to outside counsel.
Federal circuit upholds patent damages in power converter case
Sheri Qualters : The National Law Journal : March 15, 2013
A federal appeals court has upheld a district court's $11.9 million boost to a patent infringement damages award, including an increase for defendants' post-verdict infringement even though the plaintiff did not initially bring a willful infringement claim.
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