A tanking economy and crippled credit market posed a double blow for Bay Area-based Am Law 100 firms in 2008, causing slower revenue growth and declining profits. Firms battled rising costs and declining demand for legal services, which combined to deliver shrinking profit margins across the board.
Firms with the least exposure to New York’s financial sector, such as employment-heavy Littler Mendelson and Silicon Valley firms, fared better. Geographic and practice area diversity helped buoy revenue for wider-focused firms like Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Morrison & Foerster.
