Holland & Hart has reelected Chris Balch to a second term as chair as the Denver-founded firm is poised to surpass its 2022 financial performance this year.
“If our performance in the next couple of weeks continues—which I suspect it will—we’re on pace for really strong 2023 performance to exceed 2022 in almost every category,” Balch said in an interview.
Balch, a Holland & Hart partner, first took over the top spot in January 2020, a few months ahead of the coronavirus pandemic that shifted the way law firms operated.
He will begin his new four-year term on Jan. 1, 2024 with what he called a renewed focus on growth in the firm’s current markets as well as others.
‘Remarkable’ Growth
Holland & Hart, founded in 1947 by two mountain-climbing attorneys, saw consecutive financial growth under Balch’s first term as chair.
Holland & Hart has had a 45% increase in revenue compared with four years ago and about a 64% increase in profits per equity partner, Balch said. The firm brought in $320 million in revenue and recorded profits per equity partner around $720,000 in 2022.
The firm has gone from around 450 lawyers in 2019 to roughly 500 in 2023, Balch said. Attracting, retaining and developing talent was key to the firm’s success over the last four years and will continue to be going forward, he said.
“You cannot keep up performance if you can’t retain top talent and your partners don’t have the resources and the tools and the talent to provide top level legal services,” he said.
‘Life Outside of the Office’
The market for that top talent is now even more competitive as more than 40 of the nation’s top law firms bumped up the salary scale for their associates, ranging from $225,000 for first-years to $435,000 for senior associates.
We “don’t pretend to be an Am Law 50 firm and we’re not going to pay Am Law 50 salaries in our markets,” Balch said, saying that the firm’s isn’t too far off the Cravath pay scale in certain markets with its bonus program.
Holland & Hart has 12 offices across the Western part of the country and one in Washington, DC. The firm has reevaluated its salaries in every market and made increases and used signing bonuses over the past few years to grab talent as Big Law firms aggressively recruited for remote workers during the pandemic in markets across the country, Balch said.
But as Big Law firms have seemingly retreated back to major markets with return-to-office mandates to match, it could present an opportunity for Holland & Hart.
“We have always had great success recruiting really talented folks from the Am Law 100 in other markets that are working at a pace that is hard to sustain any sort of lifestyle,” Balch said.
“We have some pretty amazing offices and some great geographic locations and a culture that embraces life outside of the office,” he said.