Legal change agent: Robert Link Jr.
Link ticks off the practice areas that once commanded more resources and revenues, admiralty and railroads being two examples. Obviously, as the importance of shipping and rail transportation dimmed, so did the need for lawyers with that expertise. At the same time, the demands of global clients--an opinion might be needed in Europe about a complicated corporate financial restructuring during the middle of the night New York time--requires a state-of-the-art technology infrastructure and administrative support management across multiple time zones. "We have 1,300 employees," says Link. "That's not a mom and pop shop anymore."
Consider, for example, the planned move to its new headquarters at One World Financial Center, still in the financial district unlike those of some other large New York firms that have settled in Midtown. The move and completion of the new space will cost $80 million, Link says. "There is a significant job managing that. It can affect your profitability."
Up to date. The old model for a top-drawer corporate law firm of one lawyer, one secretary is no longer affordable. The new reality is managed pools of support staff, with someone overseeing the workflow and shifting resources accordingly. "You now have a lawyer-to-secretary ratio of 3 to 1," Link says, and the younger lawyers come into the firm equipped with the technical savvy that makes the use of time- and money-saving devices such as PC s, voice mail, BlackBerrys, and the like more common.
"I think Bob does a terrific job of making sure we understand from a business sense how we spend money, and he's done that in a very collegial way," says Christopher White, who chairs Cadwalader's real-estate finance department and also serves on the firm's management committee.
Link attributes Cadwalader's reincarnation in part to a new openness about the profession. The American Lawyer 's public listing of the profitability of the top law firms has changed the industry, he says. "We were 11th in profitability last year, a significant improvement over where we were," he boasts. The firm's focus on more lucrative practice areas is reflected in its profitability, which rose much faster than overall revenues. Profits per partner at Cadwalader soared in 2003 to $1.61 million, according to American Lawyer, up 28.8 percent from the year before and well above the average of $930,700 for the top 100 law firms in the country. The firm was 51st in gross revenues for 2003, at $354 million, up 13.1 percent from the year before, when it was ranked 56th.
That's the kind of performance that would most likely have brought a smile to the firm's industrious and illustrious forefathers.
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