Firmwide headcount dropped a little more than 1 percent, to 485 attorneys at the end of 2012 from 491 in 2011. The firm added one additional equity partner to total 105. Nonequity partners saw a 4.7 percent decline to 123 at the end of 2012.
Newberry said most clients were "indifferent" to the news about the layoffs—and he said he received a standing ovation from the staff when he spoke to them on the morning of March 1.
"A number of people stood up and said we're doing exactly what we need to do to make this firm a great competitor in a very difficult legal market place," he said.
In 2013, Newberry said the firm is making major investments, including opening an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, moving support functions to Northern Virginia and refurbishing its Washington office. He added that the firm also is looking to establish an office in Houston.
Newberry said the firm will continue to focus on ensuring that Patton Boggs, a lobbying powerhouse in D.C., is "one of the best law firms to work for" in the United States.
"We're making smart, strategic investments, and we'll continue to focus on business development, we'll continue to focus on disciplined expense management, making sure revenue is aligned with expenses and headcount, we'll continue to focus on strategic growth of the firm," he said.
@|Andrew Ramonas and Matthew Huisman, reporters for The National Law Journal, an affiliate, can be contacted respectively at aramonas@alm.com and mhuisman@alm.com.
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