Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Wall Street Journal, Looking Up: Law Firms Show Signs of Growth in M&A, Corporate, Real Estate:

After years of relatively sluggish demand for legal services, there just might be a light at the end of the post-recession tunnel. An analysis of 2014 law firm financials thus far shows—wait for it—growth in demand for transactional practices, many of which were hit hard during the financial downturn.

"Through the first quarter we’ve seen strength in M&A, corporate work, real estate, tax,” said Mark Medice, Senior Director and head of Peer Monitor, a division of Thomson Reuters that tracks performance among about 150 large law firms. ... [D]emand for corporate work was up 5% in Q1 compared to the same time in 2013, and has risen three of the past four quarters. Growth in demand for tax work rose by 6.7%, while real estate was up 3.7%--its fourth consecutive up quarter.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/05/wsj-tax-is.html