The Wells Fargo Private Bank's legal specialty group survey -- based on results from more than 100 firms, more than 50 of which are in the Am Law 100 – revealed that in addition to revenue growth, net income among those firms rose an average of 6 per cent between 2011 and 2012, while profits per equity partner increased by 5 per cent on average.

Overstating performance

Jeff Grossman, national managing director for the bank's legal sector group, told the Am Law Daily web site that even though the positive results surprised him, ‘the averages are overstating the performance of the industry. … There is still a wide dispersion in terms of performance’.
Mr Grossman added that the best-performing firm in the survey saw a leap in gross revenues of 23 per cent. On the other side of the scale, the worst-performing practice saw a revenue fall of 6.5 per cent. Neither firm was identified by the researchers.
The bank’s legal sector team conducts a more thorough year-end review in the spring, with the researchers pointing out that the survey released this week did not include many of the top-performing New York firms.