Specialized and litigation-heavy firms outpaced others, even larger Am Law 200 firms, in growing their ranks of Florida attorneys last year, the Daily Business Review's annual Review 100 survey found. And these fast-growing firms say they will continue to hire, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida's largest 100 firms added a combined 373 lawyers to their offices in the state in 2019. On average, these law firms grew by 4.9%. The aggregate growth is a departure from the trend in 2018, where Florida law firms contracted by an average of 0.3%.

For the third year running, Cole, Scott & Kissane is the largest Florida firm by attorney head count, boasting another year of double-digit growth in the state as it continues to pull away from Florida's full-service Am Law 200 firms.

The insurance defense-heavy firm added 60 attorneys over the course of the year, topping out at 493 attorneys, according to the DBR's annual Review 100 survey. Data are based on law firmresponses and website checks.

Cole Scott managing partner Richard Cole said the year's growth was primarily driven by the growing needs of existing clients as opposed to taking on new ones.

And despite the coronavirus bearing heavy on law firm balance sheets and forcing firms large and small to cut pay and furlough employees, Cole said the firm will likely still add 35 more attorneys by the end of the year, mostly to the less "mature" offices such as Orlando, which was founded less than six years ago.

Cole Scott has not had layoffs or pay cuts, Cole said. But the firm is feeling the effects: Social distancing means fewer cars on the road, fewer elective surgeries which means fewer insurance claims to defend against.

"The economy is starting to come back so we anticipate that our business will rebound as well," Cole said. "But 30 attorneys is not 60, which is what we had last year."

As further evidence of a growth spurt from Florida's litigation-heavy shops, personal injury powerhouse Morgan & Morgan dethroned Greenberg Traurig as the second-largest Florida presence with the addition of 86 attorneys in 2019.

In an email, firm founder John Morgan said he was "grateful and fortunate" that the firm grew at the pace that it did in 2019, adding it will continue to grow amid the pandemic. Morgan said the firm's growth has been firm-wide, but he singled out specific areas of expansion: civil rights, mass torts and first-party insurance litigation.

"Our contingency fee-based Business Trial Group is seeing significant growth because many businesses are more comfortable hiring an attorney that they only pay for a successful result," Morgan said. "They don't want or can't currently afford to foot a giant bill simply because their lawyers logged hours."

Rounding out the rest of the top 10, the other largest firms in Florida are Greenberg Traurig at No. 3; then Holland & Knight; Akerman; Shutts & Bowen; GrayRobinson; Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer; Wicker Smith O'Hara McCoy & Ford; and Carlton Fields at No. 10.

Catch up

Cole Scott is not the only insurance defense firm to see a rapidly-rising head count. Kelley Kronenberg saw a 36% jump in head count in 2019 alone. The firm added 39 attorneys last year, jumping in the rankings and topping out at 148 lawyers.

Kelley Kronenberg CEO Michael Fichtel attributed the spurt to a push for diversification. Long known for its insurance defense work, the firm has added attorneys in immigration, restructuring and expanded its insurance work into first-party matters.

"And our foundation is insurance defense and it will always be," Fichtel said. "But, at the same time, we can expand on that. Insurance companies have a lot of needs. We felt we had a captive audience and felt we can offer the same or better service at a competitive rate."

The diversification, especially in the area of restructuring, is already paying dividends with the onset of the pandemic, Fichtel said. Looking forward, Fichtel said he doesn't anticipate making any acquisitions in the next three months. But the firm is still talking to a few small groups. If the fit is perfect, he said, the firm would not hesitate to hire.

And the firm has room to grow. Last year, Kelley Kronenberg moved into its new 35,000 square foot office in suburban Davie. The open-concept space, which Fichtel calls "Google-esque," came complete with the IT and audio-visual capabilities that have made transitioning to a remote workforce a breeze. The entire office was quickly occupied by attorneys, and the firm was planning a 37,000 square foot building on a nearby piece of land for more workspace.

But the pandemic and the remote shift has them rethinking the proposition.

"[The new office] is a big part of our future growth," Fichtel said. "We are looking at whether we are going to take up the whole floor or just one floor because of COVID."

Litigation firm Kubicki Draper has also continued its hiring tear. In 2018, the firm added 33 attorneys, growing its head count by 34%. Last year, the firm grew by another 30% by bringing on 39 attorneys.

Kubicki Draper president Brad McCormick traces the firm's expansion to 2009, when it transitioned leadership from founder Gene Kubicki to a four-person management team. Before the transition, the firm was conservative in hiring. The new structure changed the "look and feel" of the firm, he said.

In the past few years specifically, the firm expanded its executive board and made strides in its marketing department. Client work has followed. And this time, the firm has been open to expansion — although McCormick said the firm only hires one attorney at a time and has set no growth target.

"The reason why we didn't experience the exponential growth we're seeing now was that we were cautious and conservative with hiring and expansion," McCormick said. "But our clients demanded. We acquired new business and more of it."

While growth was the norm in 2019, 37 firms saw declines in their head counts, ranging from just one attorney to as many as 27.

Full-service firm Walton Lantaff Schroeder & Carson and insurance defense firm Roig Lawyers saw the largest declines in head count among the firms surveyed.

Roig Lawyers shed 27 attorneys, shrinking from 74 total attorneys to 47 — a 37% decline, while Walton Lantaff saw 13 of its 54 attorneys leave the firm. Neither firm responded to a request for comment on the decline.

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Litigation Leads Growth in Attorney Counts at Florida Law Firms