To blunt the effects of the recession,
five Second Hundred firms reached
deep into their tool kits.
STRATEGIC
RESPONSE
Last year’s recession created the
most difficult economic environment
for large law firms since the early
1990s. Second Hundred firms turned
to a variety of methods to soften the
blow, including aggressive cost-cutting,
practice area adjustments, and enhanced
client outreach. In a year when merely
waiting out the storm wasn’t an option,
firms succeeded by viewing the
downturn as a business opportunity,
not just a financial challenge.
HEDGING A REAL ESTATE BET
IT’S NO SURPRISE that Al- len Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis had a tough year in 2009. About
45 percent of the Los Angeles
firm’s business comes from real
estate transactions, mostly in the
foreclosure hot spot of Southern
California.
“There are a lot fewer build-
ings being built, so there isn’t the
need for land use work to make
sure a property is properly titled
and zoned,” says Brian Leck, the
firm’s managing partner. “There
isn’t the need for construction
contracts, financing agreements,
or sale and lease contracts. That
work has been heavily impacted
by the recession.”
Last year the firm’s revenue
per lawyer fell 7. 4 percent, to
$690,000, and its profits per
partner dove 23. 4 percent, to
$590,000. (Compensation–all
partners fell 21. 5 percent, to
$585,000.) But Allen Matkins has
been through this before—with a
worse outcome. In the late 1980s
and early 1990s, the firm faced
a similar real estate downturn,
this one brought on by the sav-
ings and loan crisis. At that time,
about 80 percent of Allen Mat-
