The American Lawyer: O’Melveny’s Profitability Growth Tracks 9% Revenue Hike in Year of Heavy Investment
February 23, 2022
O’Melveny’s top and bottom lines experienced increased growth in 2021. The firm’s financial consistency stems from significant investments, most notably its recent expansion into the Texas market in June. O’Melveny’s new offices in Austin and Dallas are now home to a total of 29 lawyers, 16 of them partners. “All of our strategy is guided by clients’ needs, and we’re opening in Texas because some of our biggest clients are based in Texas and others are active in the state,” O’Melveny chair Bradley Butwin said. O’Melveny’s litigation work for client Johnson & Johnson stood out after securing a win in California state court against a US$50 billion public nuisance claim and overturning a US$465 million judgment in favor of J&J. Last year, O’Melveny closed over 300 M&A deals, raised over US$165 billion for capital markets and finance clients, advised on nine IPOs on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and secured a US$120 billion restructuring plan for Puerto Rico. Butwin said that the firm’s partnership growth has been quite substantial with the addition of 23 new lateral partners in the past year. Looking ahead, O’Melveny has 50 trials or arbitrations scheduled for 2022 and nearly 20 IPOs in process in Hong Kong and the US. “We have a lot of wind at our sails,” Butwin said.
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