Law firm Herzog, Fox & Neeman has once again topped the “Duns 100” ratings chart published by D&B Israel. The survey, based on the size of law firms, reported that the firm had added 18 lawyers, representing one fifth of its total work force.
The new rating has placed the firm well ahead of its nearest rival, Balter, Guth, Aloni & Co. with whom it has alternated (unofficially) for top rating for the last eight years.
Second place in the ratings chart went to Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri & Co. which jumped four places after completing the most prominent merger in 2005, joining with Dankner,Lusky & Co. to create a new firm with 95 lawyers, of whom 28 are partners. The newly merged firm pushed Balter, Guth Aloni & Co. into fourth place with 83 lawyers, unchanged from last year.
Lawyers at leading law firms account for 9% of the 33,000 plus registered members of the Israel Bar Association. Israel still has one of the largest lawyer-client ratios in the world at 1:231, 20% higher than figures in the US, which has a total of 1.05 million registered bar members and a lawyer-client ration of 1:286.
The average ratio of lawyers to trainees, in the 100 largest law firms stood at one trainee to four lawyers. The largest number of trainees was employed by Yigal Arnon & Co. , Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein, and S. Horowitz &Co. The lawyer- trainee ratio was lower at the larger law firms, with Herzog, Fox & Neeman employing 17 trainees only, and Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri employing 16.
In keeping with trends of previous years, the overwhelming majority of the larger law firms focus primarily on commercial law. 39% of the 115 offices rated in the Duns 100 defined this area as their primary line of business. 10% of firms surveyed named property, building, planning and local authority regulations as their primary line of business, while 8.7% focused primarily on litigation, 8% on civil law, 8% on tort and insurance, and 4.5% on labor law. The remaining 22% of those rated focused on other legal fields.
Commenting on the latest findings, D&B general managerReuven Kuvent, said 2005 had been typified by further technological progress in the Israeli economy, which had continued to increase its impact on the international arena, both in terms of the increase in volumes of activity of Israeli companies operating and trading abroad, and the increase in foreign investment in the Israeli economy and capital market. “The increasing number of mergers and acquisitions among leading players in the economy, has encouraged growth in the capital and hi-tech markets,” he noted.
Kuvent added that such developments required leading firms to “extend their areas of activity, with a view to meeting the complex demands of their clients and providing a broad range of services and legal expertise. This must be done if they are to reduce the need to divide key activity areas between various niche firms.
”The increase in activity at leading law firms, specifically those practicing commercial law, was reflected in the intake of new lawyers who specialize in critical legal fields such as the capital market, high-tech industry, global taxation issues and others. It can also be seen in mergers with niche firms or other firms that add to their current areas of expertise,” Kovent noted. He added that size was an important advantage when engaging in business on a global scale and this was the reason behind the burgeoning trend towards mergers in the sector.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 13, 2006