Y. David Scharf Quoted in New York Law Journal Regarding Firm Growth Despite Challenges Due to Covid-19
In a January 18 article in New York Law Journal entitled “Regional NY Firms Have Ambitious Growth Plans, Despite Associate Challenges,” Chair and Co-Managing Partner Y. David Scharf commented on Morrison Cohen’s significant increase in profits in 2021, the firm’s growth plan for 2022, and the effect of Covid-19 on the firm’s culture.
Scharf shared that the firm reported significant revenue growth in 2021 and that Morrison Cohen’s growth plan for 2022 includes growing head count at both the associate and partner levels from 116 attorneys to approximately 125.
Scharf attributed Morrison Cohen’s financial growth to several factors, including a formalized business development program that led to the firm’s associates and senior counsel doubling their revenue contributions from 2020 to 2021. “While that was an expense, we got great return on investment,” he said.
He pointed to the firm’s policy of offering associates and senior counsel a bonus of 20 percent of the business they generate as part of the firm’s investment in business development. “We realized that unless we gave it meaning, it may be a momentary selling point, but if people don’t know how to do that, and they didn’t know how to get there, it wasn’t going to happen,” Scharf said.
Scharf also spoke of the pandemic’s impact on the firm’s culture. “Before Omicron, we started hosting weekly events that were social to get people together, to community build. In the last several weeks, the firm has missed those,” he said.
“Just not being in the office for two years can create a culture dissociation. We’re very mindful, with all of our growth during these last two years, that we want all of the people who have joined to value, appreciate, and become part of the culture that we had pre-pandemic.”
The article discussed how the challenges of associate turnover, the competitive market for talent, and office return delays amid the Omicron surge have affected midsize and regional New York firms like Morrison Cohen, but Scharf offered a positive perspective. “The firm has been thoughtful about its expenditures. We learned from 2020 how tight you can go, and as a consequence of that, we were very purposeful in how we deployed money into growing our infrastructures, our firm, and we saw immediate returns.”
The article can be found here.
Contacts
- Y. David Scharf Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee
- dscharf@morrisoncohen.com
