Alan S. Waldenberg of Schulte Roth & Zabel. |

Schulte Roth & Zabel had another year of steady financial growth in 2017, posting record revenue north of $424 million and partner profits higher than $2.5 million, also a record high.

Building on steady results in 2016 and 2015, Schulte Roth took in gross revenue of $424.1 million in 2017, up 3.6 percent over the prior year's results of $409.5 million. Revenue per lawyer at the 357-attorney firm was $1.188 million, a 1.8 percent increase compared with the prior year, according to preliminary ALM data.

The firm's profits also grew in 2017 compared with 2016, with net income rising 5.7 percent to $209.8 million and profits per partner growing 7 percent to $2.56 million. In 2017, Schulte Roth counted 82 partners in its equity ranks, down from 83 in 2016; the firm has no nonequity partners.

“We think we had a terrific year. We had a record year in revenue, in profits and profits per partner,” said partner and executive committee chairman Alan Waldenberg.

Waldenberg said Schulte Roth's 2017 results were the product of contributions from across the firm, including its transactional and fund formation specialists, activist shareholder practice and litigation group. The firm, he said, completed “numerous multibillion-dollar fund launches” for clients such as Cerberus Capital Management and Bridgestone Capital in the United States and London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace.

On the transactions front, Schulte Roth guided private equity firm Veritas Capital to an acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers' U.S. public sector consulting business. The firm also has a key role in a currently pending deal announced in February, serving as legal adviser to grocery chain Albertsons Cos. on a proposed merger with Rite Aid Corp.

“Every year we're good for a couple really, really large deals,” said Waldenberg.

The Schulte Roth executive committee chair also highlighted the firm's shareholder activism group, describing it as “the premier shareholder activist practice in the country.” One high-profile assignment for that group in 2017 involved representing billionaire investor Nelson Peltz in a proxy battle with Procter & Gamble Co. Although Peltz ended up falling short in his proxy battle, the activism effort led to a P&G announcement late in 2017 that Peltz would join the company's board.

The shareholder activist group at Schulte Roth was also the beneficiary of the firm's only lateral hire in 2017. Early in the year, the firm brought on Aneliya Crawford from Olshan Frome Wolosky, a lawyer who was part of the team that represented Peltz in the P&G proxy fight.

The firm's litigation team also stayed busy in 2017 as lead defense counsel in a corruption case against Joseph Percoco, a former aide in the administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. That case involved an eight-week trial that, on Wednesday, resulted in a mixed verdict that convicted the former Cuomo aide on three of the six charges he faced.

While that representation is ongoing, Schulte Roth picked up another high-profile case recently, having been retained as defense counsel for former Equifax Inc. chief information officer Jun Ying, who was charged on Wednesday with insider trading related to stock he allegedly sold before the credit rating company publicly acknowledged its massive data breach last summer.

Looking ahead, Waldenberg said the first several weeks of 2018 have him optimistic that Schulte Roth will remain on a positive financial trajectory.

“All our practices seem to be busy and all our clients seem to be happy,” he said.