When Stoel Rives rolled out its five-year plan in 2011, the hope was that it would lead the firm along a path of prosperity. So far it seems to be working. The firm posted gross revenues of $208 million for the 2012 fiscal year, a 1.5 percent increase from 2011.
The firm saw increases in all major metrics, the greatest of which was revenue per lawyer, which rose 2.8 percent to $560,000. Profit per partner and net income both rose by 2.7 percent to $565,000 and $76 million, respectively.
"We're having a good, successful response to our disciplined implementation of our five-year plan," Stoel Rives chairman Alan Merkle said. "We have applied our resources in a dedicated way that really focuses on collaboration, commitment and innovation."
Among the practices contributing to the strong showing in 2012 were the firm's mergers and acquisitions, energy and litigation groups. He said that the firm's healthcare and food and beverage practices would be important growth areas.
The firm represented Ecover, a Belgium-based, green products manufacturer in its acquisition of San Francisco-based Method Products, another green cleaning products manufacturer. The deal was announced in early September.
In December the firm won a $155.8 million verdict for King County, Washington against a joint venture contractor. The case stemmed from the contractor's failure to meet deadlines for the boring of two tunnels related to the county's wastewater treatment facility. After a 13-week trial, the jury awarded the county $155.8 million.
This week, the firm announced that it had opened a satellite office in D.C. and appointed partner Gregory Jenner to lead it. Merkle identified the office as a possible location for growth, but said that the firm is always cautious when taking in laterals because it wants to make sure they mesh with the culture of the firm.
"We're sort of old school and interested in the long term benefit for the clients as opposed to opportunistic short-term gain," Merkle said.
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