Bingham financials: PEP up 6 per cent, turnover up 3

Bingham McCutchen has announced a 6.4 per cent hike in profit per equity partner (PEP) for the 2008 financial year.

The US firm grew PEP from $1.335m in 2007 up to $1.42m in 2008.

Global revenue at the firm saw a 3.2 per cent increase in the same period, to $767m from $743.5m last year.

Bingham chairman, Jay Zimmerman, said: “In 2007 we looked at our practice and the direction of the economy and concluded that we would have to align ourselves with tough times that we expected to come in 2008.

“Even before that, since 2003 we worked on building a securities and regulatory practice, insolvency practice as well as maintaining other areas. We were therefore been able to start to 2008 in a very good position. Not focusing too much on capital markets and highly leveraged transactional has been a real benefit.”

In 2008 average compensation to all partners grew by 6.7 per cent, from $900,000 up to $960,000, while revenue per lawyer (RPL) saw a 5.5 per cent hike from $900,000 up to $950,000.

Last year the firm embarked on a lateral hiring spree across its network.

In the US Bingham snared a group of antitrust partners from Clifford Chance, comprising Jon Roellke, Boyd Cloern and Washington DC office managing partner Leiv Blad (13 November).

In the summer Bingham hired former DC Heller Ehrman head and securities lawyer Geoff Aranow (5 August).

In April, Bingham hired Takayasu Koga from the Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission as a partner in the firm’s Tokyo office.

Zimmerman said: “We will continue to hire in 2009. I don’t think a firm is ever up to capacity. This year will definitely be challenging and everyone will be being cautious. We will be being cautiously optimistic about the year to come”.

To receive our free Lawyer in New York US legal news and comment email, click here. Or get the latest news, features and comment as it’s published with our free RSS feed.