Robert Insolia, Goodwin Procter.

Boston-founded Goodwin Procter, already on the cusp of the Am Law top 25, saw its revenue rise to $1.33 billion in 2019, an 11% increase from 2018. The firm grew profits per equity partner by 5.8% to $2.6 million.

Overall lawyer head count increased 14% to 1,091 as net income rose 10.9%, leading to a 2.9% decrease in revenue per lawyer, according to preliminary figures.

Robert Insolia, Goodwin's former managing partner who was elected as the firm's chair last April, attributed the continued growth—as well as a particularly strong last three years—to the successful execution of a strategic plan over a the course of the past decade.

"We have been on this path for the past 10 years as part of a dual strategy," Insolia said. "Dive deeper into a select number of verticals, and take advantage of what we refer to as the 'convergence of tech on everything'."

As the firm enjoys the fruits of those efforts, Insolia said success has created a momentum of its own—including on the lateral hiring front.

"We are seeing the benefits of our strategy in a number of ways, and one is that people self-select to be part of that culture and part of that strategy," he said.

Insolia said the firm added 34 laterals in 2019, all in key practice areas and geographies. He said the firm isn't in the business of placing bets on potentially overpriced rainmakers, but rather finding practice groups or individuals in key areas that are a good fit.

He said the firm has also benefited from being "deep" in several practices and industries that are in demand right now—in particular private equity, life sciences and technology.

Insolia said the same strategy has propelled the firm's U.K. and European growth.

Goodwin opened an office in Cambridge, England, in November of 2019 to try and bolster its life sciences footprint in the Oxford/Cambridge/London tech triangle. Its London office has managed rapid revenue increases in recent years, growing 11% last year to $74 million after a nearly 60% rise in 2018.

Goodwin was also just the second U.S. firm to open an office in Luxembourg when it arrived in that country in October.

Insolia said the firm would most likely have not opened the Luxembourg office if it wasn't worried about potential ripple effects from Brexit, but that for now expectations in the U.K. are high and business is good.

The one metric where the firm saw a year-over-year decline, revenue per lawyer, is not a cause for concern, Insolia said.

"I understand looking at the numbers annually," Insolia said. "But we want to see over time what the trend line is and we think the RPL will be positive this year."

Insolia said the firm didn't make any significant changes to its partner compensation, expense management or fees in 2019.

He also said the firm is not actively looking at potential merger opportunities at this point, in part because the firm has had so much success on-boarding practice groups in new markets. And Goodwin might even pump the brakes on that strategy.

"There's a big difference between a merger and bringing on a new practice group," Insolia said. "Bringing on a practice group is a great way to establish yourself in a new geography, but we are not currently looking at any new geographies."

Goodwin's transactional lawyers have been key revenue drivers in recent years, and Insolia mentioned the firm's handling of Slack's IPO as well as the firm's work on Roche's acquisition of Spark Therapeutic as highlights from 2019.

But he said the real mark of success for the firm's private equity and tech practices isn't their involvement in a few specific prominent deals, but rather their combined growth.

"Ten or so years ago, about 15% of our PE deals were tech," Insolia said. "Now that number is around 60%. We have about 250 PE lawyers and about 250 technology lawyers, so that presents an opportunity for us when they communicate with each other."

Insolia said the firm is still committed to its diversity and inclusion initiatives. Within five years, the firm wants to have its partner classes mirror the makeup of the associate classes.

"Our incoming associate class was 51% female and 33% diverse," he said. "It's a high bar, but this isn't just a firm issue or a legal industry issue. It's a societal issue and we want to be part of the solution."

The 2019 financial figures reported in this story are preliminary. ALM will report finalized data for the Am Law 200 in The American Lawyer's May and June issues.

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