Nossaman 2007 Financials - A Year of Change and Steady Growth

LOS ANGELES (January 25, 2008) – Today, Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP announced financial figures for 2007, citing strong leadership, firm-wide attorney effort, implementation of a strategic plan and new policies as key to their success. Moderate growth led to a record year in terms of revenues, per partner profits and revenue per lawyer which are all at historic highs. Per partner profits are well over $500,000 and grew 11% in 2007 with revenue per lawyer surpassing the $600,000 mark while the number of attorneys at the firm held steady. The year began with broad changes in management: Michael Heumann was elected Managing Partner, the appointment of Mary Antoine to Assistant Managing Partner followed and Marcia Wasserman joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer, all in the first months of the year. Embracing change, new policies and procedures have been adopted. Those advances combined with steady growth and the consistency of firm culture are paving the way for future successes.

"Nossaman is in a great position to take advantage of new market opportunities created by the merger-rich environment and heavy consolidation seen in the legal industry over the past few years," said Nossaman Managing Partner Michael Heumann. "We dedicated a considerable amount of time and resources to address the current market dynamics by creating and implementing a broad reaching strategic plan. Amidst changes over the past year it is wonderful to see that the firm is more cohesive than ever. We are committed to growing our core practice groups in the areas of infrastructure, healthcare, real estate, corporate/business and litigation over the coming months."

"We're creating many new and highly competitive policies, including associate parental leave, part-time work guidelines, and a new associate compensation package, bringing first year base compensation to $145,000 plus eligibility for a three-tier bonus based on seniority and individual performance," said Marcia Wasserman, COO. "The parental leave policy even provides paid child care leave for associates who are the non-primary care parent. Our part-time work guidelines are structured to accommodate associates who may desire to work part-time to meet important personal and family needs."

"The past year has ushered in a great deal of new talent to the firm. Targeted lateral hires have long been instrumental to our growth and this year was particularly strong on that front," said Mary Antoine, Assistant Managing Partner. "One example I'll share is that our strategic plan called for growth in the healthcare practice and we have already succeeded.  This type of planning and implementation occurred simultaneously with a number of efforts, a model we hope to emulate in future years."

"Our outlook for 2008 is strong for many of the reasons described: our steady growth, strong financial base, advantageous market position, and above all our cohesive firm culture and long tradition of putting client concerns first," continued Mr. Heumann.