SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

Troutman Sanders

The firm’s revenue fell by 3.4 percent, but net profit increased slightly, by 2 percent. Profit per partner increased by 5 percent because the firm shed six equity partners. That followed a 13 percent rise in partner profit in 2009—a year when most large firms’ profit per partner took a big hit. But Troutman took its hit to partner profit in 2008, suffering an 11 percent drop.Chairman Robert W. Webb Jr. attributed the drop in revenue to head count reductions, saying the focus for the last two years has been on boosting revenue per lawyer and profit per partner—not overall revenue. Although it added a 100-lawyer litigation boutique, Ross, Dixon & Bell, at the beginning of 2009, the firm’s average 2010 head count—two years after the merger—was 614.6 lawyers, compared to 620 lawyers the pre-merger firm reported on Aug. 31, 2008. Revenue per lawyer dropped $5,291 in 2010. In the two years since the merger, revenue per lawyer increased 4.7 percent and profit per partner is up 19.4 percent. Webb said that hours per timekeeper were “significantly up” by the end of the year. “We’ve gotten the base right and are in a position to start growing again in 2011,” he said.

Meredith Hobbs

*Variances shown are in comparison to 2009.

MONEY
Revenue	$363,500,000	3.4%
Revenue per lawyer	$591,442	0.89%
Profit per partner	$706,728	5.48%
LAWYERS
Total lawyers	614.6	16
Atlanta lawyers	202.5/33%	9.5
Partners	311.9	1.1
Equity partners	173.9	6.1
Atlanta size rank among firm’s offices		No. 1

Clients

Bank of America, Chick-fil-A, Cousins Properties, Delta Air Lines, Google Inc., Southern Co., Turner Broadcasting System, Verizon Communications

Offices

Atlanta (202.5), Chicago (14.8), Hampton Roads, Va. (31), Hong Kong (12.6), Irvine, Calif. (20.7), New York (89.6), Portland, Ore. (5), Raleigh, N.C. (15.7), Richmond, Va. (106.1), San Diego (10), Shanghai, China (11.8), Tysons Corner, Va. (17.8), Washington (77)

*Lawyer head counts are based on average, full-calendar year FTEs as of Dec. 31.

People

Came:

Hong Kong — Joe A. Sevack, corporate, from Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker

Irvine — Jennifer I. Bojorquez, Dan E. Chambers and Martin W. Taylor, real estate finance, from Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro

Portland — Antoine P. Cobb, energy, from Arizona Public Service Co.; Matthew D. McVee, energy, from Western Electricty Coordinating Council

Shanghai — Richard Grams, corporate, from Stephenson Harwood

Went:

London — John R. Varholy, energy trading, to Reed Smith

Tysons Corner — Edmund D. Harllee, financial institutions, to Williams Mullen

All are partners, unless otherwise noted.

Noteworthy

• Troutman’s London office went from one lawyer to zero when John R. Varholy took his energy trading practice to Reed Smith in March.

• The firm opened a five-lawyer Portland, Ore., office for its energy practice.

• Stephen E. Lewis succeeded Robert W. Webb Jr. as the firm’s managing partner and Mark S. Shiembob succeeded Webb as chairman of the firm’s compensation committee on Jan. 1, 2011. Webb remains Troutman’s chairman.