Profits at top US firms called into question

The Wall Street Journal has reported that over half of the top US law firms may have overstated their average profits per equity partner, and around 22 per cent of the top 50 firms overstated partner profits by more than 20 per cent in 2010. This claim is part of an unreleased report written by Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group, a Citigroup Inc. unit and major lender to law firms. The report’s findings were announced in Armonk, NY to an audience of major law firm leaders, one of whom passed the information to the Wall Street Journal. The American Lawyer magazine, which publishes the primary account of the legal industry’s annual financial statistics, has suggested that it may define "equity partner" more strictly than Citi does, that this may explain the discrepancy.

Profits at top US firms called into question online.wsj.com Mon, Aug 22, 2011