February 25, 2013

Blog of Legal Times interviews Bob Waldman on Venable’s growth in 2012

2 min

Venable Co-Managing Partner Bob Waldman was interviewed is a February 22, 2013 Blog of Legal Times article on Venable’s growth in 2012. The year saw impressive growth with gross revenue up nearly 6%, profits per partner up 3.7%, revenue per attorney up 2.7%, and net income up 3.1%. The firm also saw its number of partners increase to 265 and the total number of attorneys at the firm increase to 501 (FTEs).

“When I look at how we did in 2012, month to month, the second half of the year for us was quite strong,” said Waldman commenting on the firm’s growth. “We feel very good about where we are now,” Waldman said, adding, “The firm is very healthy.” Waldman noted that the firm’s tax attorneys “were working in ways I have never seen” towards the end of year with the country heading for the so-called fiscal cliff. Waldman also pointed to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as an area of steady work from corporate clients, saying it “is far reaching to areas where you never thought of…We are beginning to realize how far flung the law is.”

Speaking about the biggest surprise in the past year, Waldman said, “We would have thought that with the Obama administration, government contracts work would be more robust than it was. The whole regulatory scheme in Washington has taken a lot longer to roll out than we thought. It now seems to be getting traction.” Looking down the road, Waldman singled out cybersecurity as an area poised for growth. “That will be a huge area for us in the next couple of years,” he said.