U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. June 13, 2018. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Washington, D.C., law firms' revenue growth lagged behind the national average in the first half of 2019, according to Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group, but there are still reasons to be upbeat about the rest of the year.

Jeff Grossman of Citi Private Bank said the 15 D.C. firms included in the bank's recent survey showed revenue growth of 3% in the first half of 2019, as compared to 5.9% industrywide.

"It, to me, is very much in line with where the D.C. marketplace has been with moderate growth," Grossman said. "I would describe it as more moderate growth, [rather than] soft or modest growth."

Unlike other regions that benefited from mergers and acquisitions activity, D.C.—which relies more upon regulatory, regulatory enforcement and antitrust work—has seen an anticipated tapering. However, Grossman emphasized, there was reason to remain optimistic that the D.C. region could compete with firms in better performing locales. Washington-based firms in Citi's survey posted a 0.5% uptick in demand, whereas several other regions had negative changes in demand.

The slight uptick in demand plus rising rates—D.C. rates are up 4.3% as compared to a national average of 4.6%—gave Grossman reason to forecast a "positive outlook" in D.C. for the remainder of 2019.

To be clear, Citi Private Bank's results do not paint an overly rosy picture for Am Law 100 firms in D.C. or other regions. Unlike previous years where the range in revenue growth was tighter across the country, Grossman said, there's a greater disparity between the best performing regions and the worst.

Also, some of last year's trends are finally coming home to roost on Big Law's doorstep: In particular, expenses are rising. In D.C., expenses were up 6.5% through 2019's first half—as compared with a national average of 5.9%—but Grossman noted that some other regions saw even higher expense increases, reaching as high as 9%.

When all is said and done, Grossman emphasized that a healthy economy in 2018 and more M&A activity last year may skew some of the statistics, as 2018 was a good year for Big Law nationwide.

"It's going to be a good year," Grossman said. "It's just not going to be 2018, but relative to any year post-recession excluding 2018 which was the best year on-record, it's going to be a good year compared to any other year."