Equity partners in America’s ‘middle Atlantic’ region bagged the highest remuneration packages in the country last year -- according to survey results released today – with the major international players in New York, Boston and Philadelphia driving that success.

Sparkling figures

The researchers also found that commercial litigation continues to be the most lucrative practice area at large legal practices, reflecting the ongoing global economic doldrums. Firms with commercial litigation practices reported the most sparkling turnover figures per lawyer, at an average of $473,000. However, that figure was well down on the previous 12 months when it scrapped the $655,000 mark.
The survey – conducted by the National Law Journal – shows that equity partners at the top firms in that region far outstripping their national rivals. According to the Journal’s report, partners in the top 10 per cent of pay packages in the mid-Atlantic region had average annual drawings of more than $855,000.

New England woe

In stark contrast, the poorest lawyers in the country, according to the researchers, were to be found only slightly up the eastern seaboard in New England. Average remuneration for equity partners in the top-10 bracket in that region was a miserly $358,000.
The researchers point out that US law firms across the board continued to tighten their belts, cutting expenses per lawyer by an average of 4 per cent to just less than $162,000. Expenses in the mid-Atlantic region tumbled farthest – by 11 per cent over the previous year -- contributing to increasing profits in that region.
That survey fell against the backdrop of a slight bounce in overall employment figures in the US legal sector. According to the AmLaw Daily web site, some 1,400 jobs were added last month, giving the profession its highest figures in three years.
The bounce came after a fall in legal sector employment in June. According to the report, there are now more than 1.12 million people employed in legal profession work.