Firms Plan for Growth

Firms Plan for Growth

By David R. Corder

Associate Editor

Over the past year, Don Mastry hired six new lawyers to meet client demand just in the Bradenton and St. Petersburg offices of Holland & Knight LLP, the stateis largest law firm. Thatis about a 25% increase in the number of attorneys in the two offices Mastry manages as an executive partner. He expects to hire even more during the new year.

The growth locally is significant, considering the law firm reports overall it now employs about 1,280 attorneys. Thatis about 10% more than it reported the previous year in American Lawyeris most recent annual law firm survey.

Mastry says the firm should post healthy growth for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, although exact numbers werenit available. In 2003, the firm saw a 3.4% increase in revenue to about $532 million, even as it executed cost-cutting measures. He expects even further growth during the new year at the national law firm founded 36 years ago in Tampa and Bartow.

iI donit see anything that indicates a slow down,i he says.

Mastry isnit alone in his optimism for the new year. Itis an outlook shared by executives at several of the Gulf Coast regionis top law firms.

Over the past few years, these executives typically qualified their economic forecasts with catchwords such as icautiously optimistic.i For the most part, theyire not saying that now.

At Abel Band Russell Collier Pitchford & Gordon Chartered, the Sarasota firm forecasts the need for new associates in almost every single practice area. Just a little more than a year ago the firm added eight new lawyers in one swoop. It has added lawyers at a controlled pace since.

iOur projections for next year are for continued growth,i says Cheryl Gordon, managing shareholder. iOur budget for next year looks positive. As far as revenue growth, weire looking at a minimum increase of 10%.i

Good things ahead

Under Rhea Lawis leadership, Tampais Fowler White Boggs Banker PA has expanded into most major markets in Florida. She oversaw the expansion in Bonita Springs, Naples and West Palm Beach. Last February, the firm established a new office in Jacksonville by hiring attorneys who spun off LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & McRae LLP.

Client demand has fueled the expansion, Law says. And itis why the firm expects to expand in Orlando and West Palm Beach.

iWeire looking farther south, maybe even into Miami,i says Law, though she wouldnit disclose details.

Last year, the firm added about 10 lawyers net. Almost 210 lawyers now work at the firmis nine offices.

Although she would not disclose financials, Law says the firm experienced a 7% to 10% increase in gross revenue.

iWe had a better year than the year before,i she acknowledges. iWeive been investing in ourselves and our practices. It was a good year, though.i

To improve service and efficiency, the firm invested in new technology.

iWe had a fairly significant technology upgrade across all of the offices,i she says. iIt has made a huge difference as far as efficiencies and capabilities. So weill reap the benefits of that this year.

iWe are optimistic; we see good things ahead,i Law adds. iWe traditionally donit ever see the huge dips that, perhaps, other law firms have, especially those that focus only in one area of the law.i

Reaping benefits

Fowler White wasnit the only firm that invested in new technology as a means to increase attorney productivity and revenue in the coming years.

In Sarasota, Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen PA invested heavily into new wireless computer server products to improve communications among the law firm, attorneys and clients. Elvin Phillips, the Williams Parker attorney who managed the upgrade, expects the firmis 44 lawyers to reap immediate benefits.

iOur expense per attorney is certainly going to be more (in 2004), but we expect revenue to be more,i says Phillips.

For the new year, Phillips says the firm expects modest growth.

iWe anticipate adding one or two attorneys during the calendar year through controlled modest growth,i he says. iBut everything looks good. Just based on what you would normally expect to happen this still looks like a strong economy.i

Technology was one component of the growth strategy during 2004 at Carlton Fields. The upgrade complemented the firmis relocation to newly constructed Class A office space in Tampais Westshore submarket and its expansion into the Atlanta market.

With this expansion well under way, Tom Snow, Carlton Fieldsi president, expects the firm to produce immediate results during the new year.

iThe economy is coming back,i he says. iSo Iim expecting the firm to be strong in all sectors.i

The firm expects to end 2004 with about 225 attorneys, or about 6% more than the previous year. The Atlanta office could account for a significant percentage of the growth. Six lawyers now work there, and Snow expects that office to eventually staff from 25 to 30 attorneys.

Since the firmis fiscal year ends Jan. 31, Snow could not offer an estimate on its 2004 revenue. But he expects that figure to be roughly 8% to 10% more than the $86 million in 2003 revenue the firm reported in the iAmLaw 100i survey. Revenue grew by about 8.2% over the amount produced in 2002.

iWeire seeing growth (in the areas of) real estate, corporate securities and tax,i Snow says. iWhen you think about it, it makes a lot of sense because the economy is coming back. People are starting to gain confidence and do deals. That should continue over the next year.i

Hot practice areas

Insurance contract law could be one of the hottest practice areas in the Gulf Coast region during the New Year as hurricane victims seek relief on outstanding claims.

As of Nov. 24, the Florida Insurance Council reported those hurricanes resulted in almost 1.51 million reported claims. Insurers had closed about 83.6% of all claims as of the reporting date, leaving open about 246,835.

Open claims suggest the possibility of litigation, says Doug Berry, managing partner at Tampais Butler Pappas Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP. It also means new business for the firm, which focuses mostly on insurance defense law.

iAfter the first of the year, Iim sure many of these people will lose patience with their insurance companies and litigate,i Berry says. iThereis going to be a substantial upturn in litigation against insurance companies.i

Even so Berry expects only a moderate increase in the number of attorneys the firm employs. During 2004, the number of attorneys increased by 10 to 72.

iWe had a good year, and weive increased revenue every year over at least each of the past three or four years,i says Berry.

At Holland & Knight, Mastry expects continued growth in two areas.

iHealth care is a very active and growing practice,i he says. iThatis because itis a highly regulated industry. There are a lot of issues involving lawyers with all aspects of health care.i

Snow expects revenue growth in the areas of intellectual property rights, products liability, construction law and litigation, especially securities-related class action litigation.