Baker Botts’ gross revenue was $555 million in 2010, a 3.5 percent decrease compared to 2009′s $574.8 million. The Houston firm’s net income also dipped last year to $245.8 million, a 3 percent decline from $253.3 million in 2009. Managing partner Walt Smith writes in an e-mail, “We are very pleased with our financial performance in 2010. . . .” He notes that last year average profits per partner were the highest ever recorded by the firm, in part because Baker Botts carefully managed costs. Average profits per partner were $1,373,000 in 2010 and revenue per lawyer was $789,000. PPP and RPL are calculated using a full-year average FTE (full-time equivalent) of 703 lawyers and 179 equity partners at Baker Botts in 2010. Areas of strength for Baker Botts in 2010 included the corporate, intellectual property and international dispute resolution practices, in contrast to “a slowdown in our commercial litigation practice,” Smith writes. He notes that the firm served as lead outside counsel on more than 50 transactions valued at more than $50 billion in 2010, including its representation of Houston’s Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oil field services company, in its $11 billion merger with Houston-based drill bit maker Smith International, and Warrendale, Pa.’s East Resources Inc. in the $4.7 billion acquisition by Europe’s largest oil producer Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
See ” Turning the Corner: The Worst Appears to Be Over for Texas Firms“
