Bricker’s hiring and growth patterns featured in ALM’s Mid-Market Report

Since the country’s recession nearly a decade ago, law firms of all sizes have experienced stagnant or negative growth. However, hiring and employment numbers don’t tell the entire story. As uncovered by ALM Legal Intelligence, today’s mid-sized law firms are experiencing a different type of growth – growth that is focused on revenue and profitability rather than headcount.

Bricker’s Managing Partner Jim Flynn, who is featured in “Is Steady Head Count OK for Midsize Firms?” (subscription required), notes that Bricker’s internal hiring efforts have evolved over the past five years. “We have slightly reduced the size of our summer clerk classes…in response to more demand for experienced attorneys and client pressures not to pay for training newer attorneys. Lateral hiring requires more effort and has more variables to reach the point of successful hiring.” Flynn says that Bricker relates to its peers in that firm leadership must continue to find ways to optimize productivity to grow market share and profit margins. “Every law firm leader (regardless of firm size) fights to win the growth battle….The winners seem to have a strategy and a culture that is attractive to growth targets and they stay true to both.”