Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Goodwin Procter LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Goodwin Procter
- Designation: Boston
- Head Count: 777
- Gross Revenues: $715,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $920,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,515,000
- Year Over Year Change: 1
One of Boston’s old–line law firms, Goodwin Procter has seen much expansion since the late 1990s, tripling in size and growing its presence in Asia and London. A full–service firm, Goodwin focuses on technology, intellectual property, life sciences, private equity, real estate, and financial services. Its white–collar defense practice is well known, too.
Yet Goodwin, which was founded in 1912, has also seen challenges in recent years. Its transactional practice was hit hard during the economic crisis: and the firm laid off more than three dozen associates in February 2009. Even an uptick in Goodwin’s financials in 2011—helped by gains in technology, private equity, and corporate work— was due in part to a decreased equity partner roster (several of those departures coming from high–profile defections to rival firms during 2011). A more positive note was the firm’s transactional practice in Asia (based out of Goodwin’s Hong Kong office), which benefited from client investments in China. Ironically, the financial crisis triggered a steady stream of work for Goodwin’s litigation department, which has handled a stream of lawsuits brought against client Countrywide Financial Corporation (accusing the mortgage giant of engaging in misleading sales and marketing practices in the run–up to the housing meltdown). “At various times we’ve predicted that the pipeline [for those cases] is 18 months to two years out,” the firm’s chair, Regina Pisa, said in early 2012. “I think those cases have at least two to three year’s life left in them.”
While Goodwin’s financials may be getting a jump start, its noneconomic metrics still wait their turn. The firm has turned in middling numbers on some key surveys by The American Lawyer. It ranked 104th of 126 firms on our Midlevel Associates Survey in 2011, and with minorities comprising just 4 percent of the U.S. partner roster, Goodwin finished 110th (of 194 firms) on the magazine’s 2011 Diversity Scorecard. The firm’s pro bono score was better, but not awe–inspiring: With lawyers averaging a bit over 54 hours a year of nonpaying work, Goodwin finished seventy–first among the Am Law 200 firms.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 39 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 39 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 45 | 1 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 71 | 32 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 119 | 9 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 104 | 14 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 50 | 22 | Summer programs |
In the News
Deals in Brief/REITs
David Marcus : The American Lawyer : April 25, 2013
Real estate M&A activity continued apace in the first quarter of 2013, with three transactions of $1 billion or more announced in January.
Boston Marathon Will Let Wilmer Handle Fallout
: The Am Law Daily : April 24, 2013
The Boston Athletic Association has turned to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to handle legal issues stemming from last week's bombings.
BAA Taps Wilmer for Possible Attack-Related Legal Matters
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : April 22, 2013
A week after a pair of bomb blasts marred this year's running of the Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association, which hosts and organizes the 116-year-old event, is relying on its longtime outside counsel from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to handle any legal issues that may arise from the brutal attack that claimed three lives and injured more than 170 people.
IPO Pipeline Pumps Cash Into Coffers for Latham, Other Am Law 200 Firms
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : April 19, 2013
Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Davis Polk, and Fenwick & West are leading a pack of firms reaping the benefits from a recent round of initial public offerings that includes share sales for such companies as Fairway, SeaWorld, Taminco, and Taylor Morrison.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : April 19, 2013
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart opens a Richmond office, the firm's 44th location; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher takes a practice group leader from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton; and Hunton & Williams welcomes back a partner in Charlotte. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
$500 Million Settlement Reached in Litigation Against Countrywide
Jan Wolfe : The Litigation Daily : April 18, 2013
The mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., absorbed by Bank of America Corp. in 2008, has agreed to pay $500 million to resolve class claims that it misled mortgage-backed securities investors.
Zynga Rival Fires Back in Trade Secret Suit
Max Taves : The Recorder : April 18, 2013
Bomb Suspects Pictured; Lawyers Come To Victims' Aid
Sheri Qualters : The National Law Journal : April 18, 2013
Federal authorities released pictures of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Thursday as firms and lawyers with Boston ties stepped up to help victims and practices in the afflicted area strove to return to normal.
Bomb Suspects Pictured; Lawyers Come To Victims' Aid
Sheri Qualters : The National Law Journal : April 18, 2013
Federal authorities released pictures of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Thursday as firms and lawyers with Boston ties stepped up to help victims and practices in the afflicted area strove to return to normal.
Bomb suspects pictured; lawyers come to victims' aid
Sheri Qualters : The National Law Journal : April 18, 2013
Federal authorities released pictures of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Thursday as firms and lawyers with Boston ties stepped up to help victims and practices in the afflicted area strove to return to normal.
- Adams and Reese
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Allen & Overy
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Arthur Cox
- Ashurst
- Baker & McKenzie
- Brown Rudnick
- Buist Moore
- Cahill Gordon & Reindel
- Clayton Utz
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Diamond McCarthy
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Dorsey & Whitney
- Dreier LLP
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Freehills
- Freshfields
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Herbert Smith
- Herrick, Feinstein
- Hogan Lovells
- Howrey
- Jenner & Block
- Jones Day
- K&L Gates
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- McKool Smith
- Minter Ellison
- Moore & Van Allen
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- 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
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Ruden McClosky
- Shea & Gould
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simmons & Simmons
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- White & Case
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
