This just in: Lawyers want more money

The results of a survey released today by law-firm consultants Altman Weil Inc. found that nearly all law firms had increased or planned to increase the fees that they charge clients this year.

A full 95% of the firms responding were billing or planned to bill at rates higher in 2011 compared with 2010, the survey found. The median increase in billing rates was 4%.

The rise in rates is a reflection of high confidence among law firms, even as the overall economy continues to falter. Three quarters of firms surveyed reported an uptick in revenue and profits per lawyer in 2010, according to the survey. About half the participating firms reported that they reduced overhead costs in 2010. At the same time, firms indicated they had become more flexible about billing rates. Just over half of the firms with 250 lawyers or more said they used alternative fee arrangements that were less profitable than projects billed on an hourly basis.

"If firms are finding their feet again post-recession, it is on new ground with a number of new factors in play," said Tom Clay, a principal with Altman Weil who co-authored the survey, in a press release.

The survey, conducted in April and May of this year, polled managing partners and chairmen of 805 U.S. law firms with 50 lawyers or more. Of those firms, 240 completed the survey, including 38 percent of the 250 largest U.S. law firms. The survey results did not identify billing rate dollar amounts. Altman Weil principal Eric Seeger co-authored the survey.

Cuts to equity and non-equity partner ranks continued in 2011, with about 17% of law firms reporting that they would make cuts to equity partners and 21% reporting that they would trim non-equity partners this year.

Of the law firms reporting, 87% said they planned to add associates in 2011, and only 18% planned to remove associates. Eighty-eight percent said they had fewer support staffers in 2011.

(Published by Thomson Reuters - June 14, 2011)