If R.P.L is so important, explain Bingham v mid-law health? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I've done some research and have come to the conclusion that many (most?) think revenue per lawyer is a (the most?) important measure of a firm's health. Is it usually the case that higher revenue per lawyer ratios are better than lower revenue per lawyer ratios? I mean, Bingham and Weil ("struggling" firms in my opinion) have near $1M per lawyer ratios while smaller firms that are doing better have ratios around $300-400,000 per lawyer. Does it come down to overhead? That would make sense...

Any one have any insight into this ratio? Thanks for the help.

-js

reason why I'm asking is b/c i'm choosing between a mid-law (150 lawyer) firm and a biglaw firm but with very different RPL's..

[Danger Zone]

Revenue doesn't mean much on its own. You need to be looking at PPP.

Though if you're trying to figure out which firm to work at, the most important ratio is summer associates to offers extended.

[KidStuddi]

Bingham and Weil ("struggling" firms in my opinion)

Your opinion is just wrong. Or rather your perception isn't accounting for relative differences in status. Weil, if it can be said to be struggling, is only struggling relative to its peers who are absolutely murdering it. Financially speaking, it is still doing better than 99% of law firms on the planet. They just chucked aside a bunch of associates to ensure they remain in a very elite club.

[Anonymous User]

Good point

-op

[Frayed Knot]

Bingham and Weil ("struggling" firms in my opinion)

Your opinion is just wrong. Or rather your perception isn't accounting for relative differences in status. Weil, if it can be said to be struggling, is only struggling relative to its peers who are absolutely murdering it. Financially speaking, it is still doing better than 99% of law firms on the planet. They just chucked aside a bunch of associates to ensure they remain in a very elite club.

I don't know that I agree with this, at least to the extent that struggling = instability. I mean, sure, firms like that are still very profitable. But, as you said, they want to stay in a very elite club—and, more importantly, they have partners who are convinced that they should stay in that club.

If their profitability were to fall a lot, they wouldn't just drop down to midlaw-profitability: Partners would start leaving and there's a good chance the firm would splinter or get absorbed by some other firm. So, even though the numbers are high, the expectations are equally high—and they might not be that stable.

[911 crisis actor]

Bingham kept their RPL up because they probably stealthed a bunch of associates as they realized revenue was plummeting

HTH

[Desert Fox]

Midlaw and biglaw can have very different business models. RPL is a function of number of hours billed and rate for those hours. Midlaw will have significantly lower billing rates.

Bingham is a TTT in decline. It's spewing off profitable partners.

Also, firm numbers are often entirely bullshit. I really don't believe Bingham has 1mil RPL.

[wiz]

Bingham seems fucked. And yeah, I've heard it's easy to game law firm numbers. Especially PPP with non-equity and high leverage. RPL is probs harder to game, but I don't see how Bingham is at 1+ million, given all the sinking ship news that has come out on them recently.

[911 crisis actor]

Bingham used to have a headcount of 1000+ two years ago

Now most of the stories are reporting headcount at around 750