Reed Smith smashes revenue target in double-merger year
Reed Smith smashes revenue target in double-merger year" />US firm Reed Smith has broken the $1m average profit per equity (PEP) partner barrier and smashed its revenue target with a solid set of year-end financial results at the end of a year, which has witnessed two large mergers.
PEP rose 6.3 per cent from $941,000 to just over $1000. With the added income from the Richards Butler merger in the UK and the combination with Chicago's Sachnoff & Weaver, turnover shot up 39 per cent from $644m to $892m.
Reed Smith chairman and managing partner Greg Jordan told The Lawyer: "It's been a huge year for the firm. It's been a milestone, transformative year."
The firm merged with Richards Butler with effect from 1 January 2007 and merged with Sachnoff in March. The firm has estimated that the Richards Butler combination has generated about $40m of new business in or out of the UK while the Sachnoff merger has generated about $20m. The latter is particularly notable as pre-merger turnover was about $80m.
Jordan's key strategy is to target higher value work from the clients with which the firm has the closest relationships. He was pleased to note that revenue from the firm's top 250 clients has tripled during the last four years. Revenue per lawyer (RPL) continues to grow too. Last year RPL rose 5.5 per cent from $652,000 to $688,000.
The firm beat its targeted $870m in revenue for the year so a special bonus was paid to all staff, which amounted to £400 in the UK.
"It's a recognition that the team won," said Jordan.
