Gross revenue at Houston’s Susman Godfrey increased 32.3 percent in 2010 to $172 million from $130 million in 2009. Net income rose 42.1 percent to $135 million in 2010 from $95 million in 2009. Neal Manne, a partner in the Houston office, says the firm’s lawyers — more than half are partners — bill on a fixed fee or contingent-fee basis, rarely hourly. “That’s why we have the high revenue,” Manne says. Last year, the all-litigation firm achieved success in a wide range of practice areas, he says, including intellectual property, securities class actions and corporate disputes. In an e-mail, Manne mentions specifically that the firm received a large contingent fee representing the plaintiff in Masimo v. Tyco Healthcare, an antitrust case in which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judgment for $42.5 million plus interest and attorneys’ fees. Manne writes the firm also had “several large (confidential) settlements in patent infringement cases,” inside and outside of the Eastern District of Texas. Average revenue per lawyer at Susman Godfrey was $1,890,000 in 2010 profits per partner averaged $2,455,000. PPP and RPL are calculated using a full-year average FTE (full-time equivalent) of 91 lawyers and 55 equity partners.
See ” Turning the Corner: The Worst Appears to Be Over for Texas Firms“
