Dechert was able to increase its net profit in 2012 while growing partner ranks and footing the bill for significant international expansion thanks to an 8.6 percent increase in gross revenue last year, the firm said.

After four years of decline in gross revenue from 2007 through 2010, the metric has grown for the past two years. Dechert’s gross revenue of $671 million in 2011 rose to $729 million in 2012, according to numbers gathered by Legal affiliate The American Lawyer.