Expenses are rising faster than revenue at the nation's largest law firms, and those in charge of running those firms are running out of ways to manage the imbalance, according to a recent survey conducted by Wells Fargo's Legal Specialty Group, the American Law Daily reported today. The survey gathered input from 115 firms on a variety of performance-related categories covering the period from January through June. The survey found that, collectively, revenue rose 3 percent among the responding firms in the first half of 2012, compared to the same six-month period last year. Profits, on the other hand, fell 0.7 percent, in large part because of rising expenses. Based on their workload during the first half of the year, lawyers at the surveyed firms are on track to bill 1,678 hours per attorney—a figure that would mark a 1 percent decrease compared to 2011.
