Worst of Recession is Over for Law Firms, Says PricewaterhouseCoopers Survey

ABA Journal Law News Now, 9-25-09
Worst of Recession is Over for Law Firms, Says PricewaterhouseCoopers Survey

Posted Sep 23, 2009, 06:46 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

"After the economic carnage earlier this year, financial statistics show law firms were on more solid ground by the summer.

A survey of more than 50 law firms conducted by the PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm found that legal work and law firm profits increased during a three-month period that ended on July 31, in part due to internal cost-cutting by the partnerships, reports the Law Society Gazette.

Although certain practice areas, such as real estate, still are struggling, others, such as corporate and mergers and acquisitions, are recovering, David Thurkettle tells the British legal publication. He is a senior director in PwC’s professional partnerships group.

"Firms have weathered the storm in the main. They have got through the cost and the financial pain, and are now reaping the rewards," he says of the survey results, which he believes are probably representative of the situation at other law firms, too. "The view here is that, if you took a basket of different law firms, most of them are over the worst in terms of activity levels." "

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