Six Consecutive Years of Growth
Gordon & Rees advanced from #144 to #132 in the National Law Journal's 2009 survey of the largest U.S. law firms. 2009 is the sixth consecutive year Gordon & Rees has advanced in the survey, an increase every year since 2003 when the firm first appeared in the survey. In 2003, the survey noted "Leaping highest was San Francisco's Gordon & Rees; its 210 lawyers landed the firm at No. 186." Again in the 2005 survey, Gordon & Rees's rapid growth was highlighted when the firm tied as the fifth fastest growing firm among the "Top 10 Growth Leaders." Gordon & Rees currently has nearly 400 lawyers in 17 offices throughout the U.S.
"It's never been like this."
Between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009, the NLJ tracked a 6% growth in Gordon & Rees's lawyer headcount. According to the Editor in Chief of the NLJ, "It's never been like this. In the three decades that the National Law Journal has been counting lawyers at big law firms, headcount has nearly always grown. In fact, the two times it has dropped, the decline was 1% or less. This year, headcount dived by nearly 4% ... [a]ctually the numbers are even more stark. For 20 years, the average annual growth rate for the NLJ 250 has been close to 4%. So this year's decline, when coupled with the usual growth rate, is more like 8%."
Achieving a National Platform
In a year of unprecedented contraction in the legal profession, Gordon & Rees continued to benefit from its conservative fiscal foundation, a shift in corporate America to cost-effective mid-sized firms, and a strategic growth initiative that has led to the completion of the firm's national platform with the opening of a Miami office on December 1, 2009.