In 1998, when Regina Pisa was offered the job of chair and managing partner at her firm, Goodwin Procter, she was hesitant to take it at first, because she enjoyed her M&A practice so much. She said she would consider it in 10 years—but her partners said Goodwin couldn’t wait.
Goodwin Procter was then a midsized Boston firm of 300 lawyers, focusing on complex litigation, real estate capital markets, financial services and private equity. The firm had lagging revenue, with its $470,000 revenue per lawyer putting it behind several of its Boston-based rivals, despite profits per partner of $730,000 that topped the list of Boston firms.
