AFTER WATCHING partner profits sink in 2008 (down 4.3 percent) and crawl back into positive territory in 2009 (a mere 0.3 percent increase), The Am Law 100 collectively exhaled last year as profits per partner jumped a healthy 8.4 percent.
Firms heeded Obamaphile Rahm Emanuel’s advice and didn’t let the economic crisis go to waste. They cut overhead, principally by trimming head count at all levels, and reined in expenses. (Lavish retreats in exotic locales gave way to pedestrian events at the home office.) As the economy revived, the country’s highest-grossing firms were able to convert modest revenue gains into profits thanks to their prudence. Here are a few other key stats from our rankings:
