What Recession? K&L Gates Tops $1 Billion in Revenue

Unemployment is hovering at just over 10%, some states have seen home foreclosure rates as high as 25%, the economy continues to shed jobs, law firms are slashing salaries, retail sales continue to drop, but someone forgot to mention all of this to Pittsburgh based K&L Gates.

K&L Gates is one of the first major firms to report its 2009 revenues and the picture it paints stands in stark contrast to the doom and gloom on the nightly news. Revenues for the firm were up 8% to $1.034 billion and profits per partner were up by 1%.

The growth was driven by K&L Gates aggressive expansion which included the March merger will Bell Boyd & Lloyd, and new offices overseas in Singapore, Frankfurt and Dubai. Although the firm laid off 36 associates in March, overall the attorney nose count grew by approximately 150 to just over 1,700 total.