Aggressive Rate Hikes, Head Count Management Helped Am Law 50 Squeeze Profits From Sluggish Demand in Q4
The Am Law 50 finished the fourth quarter with nearly 8% more fees worked than Q4 2022 despite a decline in demand, according to a new Thomson Reuters report.
February 12, 2024 at 05:00 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
What You Need to Know
- The Am Law 50 posted strong gains in profitability in Q4 despite slow demand, thanks to headcount management and rate hikes.
- Worked rates went up 6.5% across a cohort of Am Law 200 and midsize firms in Thomson Reuters' Q4 2023 Law Firm Financial Index, while demand rose 1.7%.
- Direct expenses rose 5.3% in Q4 compared to Q4 2022 while overhead expenses went up 6.6%.
Financial discipline helped the Am Law 50 close out 2023 strong as transactional demand remained slow, according to a new report from Thomson Reuters.
Compared to Q4 2022, demand in the Am Law 50 fell nearly 2% last quarter, while demand rose by more than 2% for the Am Law 51-100 and the Second Hundred. Still, the Am Law 50 saw nearly as much of an increase in overall fees worked—nearly 8%—compared to respective increases of roughly 11% and 9% for the Am Law 51-100 and Second Hundred.
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