Steptoe Grows Revenue 10% in Busy Year for Trade, Regulation

Steptoe LLP posted double-digit revenue and profit gains last year, as clients turned to the DC-headquartered law firm to navigate shifting executive branch priorities in President Donald Trump’s second term.

The more than a century-year-old firm grew revenue by 10% to $583 million last year, Steptoe said Thursday. Robust client demand also boosted the firm’s profits per equity partner to $2.4 million, a 15% increase.

“Our growth was propelled by the world we live in, which was driven by trade and need for regulatory compliance,” said Gwen Renigar, the firm’s chair. “Based on the fact that policy, enforcement litigation, investigations, and trade continue to be quite in demand, I expect we’ll have another busy year.”

Steptoe lawyers early last year helped China’s Hytera secure the dismissal of most charges in a Justice Department trade theft conspiracy case against the communications equipment manufacturer. The firm also successfully defended American Express Global Business Travel Group Inc. against a DOJ antitrust suit challenging the company’s $500 million acquisition of business travel manager CWT.

A former DOJ employee that Steptoe represented pro bono was perhaps the firm’s best-known client of the year. Sean Dunn turned to Steptoe after he was charged with assault for allegedly throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer in DC. Dunn, who became a symbol of anti-Trump sentiment after a video of the August 10 incident went viral, was found not guilty on a misdemeanor assault charge.

Renigar said the firm has not made changes about the clients and cases it takes, despite Trump’s crackdown campaign against law firms. Trump targeted some firms with punitive executive orders, which were later struck down in court, while others pledged free legal services to avoid similar actions.

“We don’t believe there are barriers to the work we can do,” she said. “If anything, because of the new US administration, we’ve only seen an increase in work on the policy side and the executive side. This administration is much more active than prior administrations in terms of regulatory reform.”

The revenue gain is just behind the 13% increase that large law firms saw on average last year, according to data from Wells Fargo & Co.'s legal banking unit.

Steptoe’s profit growth was largely the result of increasing net income, which rose by 12% to $216 million. Firms calculate profits per equity partner by dividing net income by the number of equity partners.

Renigar downplayed the importance of the PEP metric internally at the firm. Steptoe calculates the figure for reporting financial performance to media outlets, she said.

Many of the firm’s lateral partners, in their first year at Steptoe, don’t qualify as equity partners for reporting purposes because they don’t derive more than half of their compensation in the form of equity in the firm, Renigar said. But those partners make capital contributions and vote on the same matters as their equity-earning counterparts.

“We’ve been consistently adding to the partnership every year,” she said. “The growth metrics we look at are revenue per lawyer, revenue, and overall strength of the firm. Our PEP we only focus on when we talk to you guys.”