Updated 5:53 p.m.
Gross revenue for Hogan Lovells was stagnant for the first full year of the firm's existence, while profits per partner increased by 4.0%, according to our reporting of 2011 financial indicators.
The firm, which formed in May 2010 after Washington-based Hogan & Hartson and London-based Lovells merged, posted $1.665 billion in gross revenue last year—just $500,000 more than the firm earned the year before—and a little less than $1.2 million in profits per partner. (The 2010 numbers were calculated by adding together the earnings of the two former firms.)
“I don’t think one should regard it as a flat performance,” Hogan Co-CEO David Harris said. “I’m really pleased with the outcome.”
Co-CEO J. Warren Gorrell Jr. said the firm expected to have $1.7 billion in gross revenue in 2011. He said Hogan’s practices – including corporate, finance and litigation – were strong, helping the firm come very close to meeting its target.
The firm claimed victories on several major matters in 2011. Hogan’s representation of SABMiller Plc in its $10.2 billion acquisition of Australian brewer Foster’s Group Ltd. and the firm’s successful defense of PricewaterhouseCoopers Bermuda against claims that the accounting firm failed to expose Bernard Madoff’s fraud when it audited him were among its achievements last year.
Recruiting was good at the firm in 2011, Gorrell said. High-profile hires last year included Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who are both based in Washington.
But Hogan lost 10 partners and 100 other lawyers in 2011, leaving the firm with 2,253 attorneys, of whom 799 are partners.
Gorrell said the firm is focused on strategic hires, not getting bigger.
“We’re not interested in being the largest firm the world,” he said.
This report is part of The National Law Journal‘s coverage of 2011 financial results for local Am Law 200 firms. Full results for The Am Law 200 will be published in the May and June print and online editions of The American Lawyer. Readers can also view an interactive chart for updated financial results as they are reported.
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