By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

The release of Business First's 2010 law-firm rankings - an annual barometer of how the Western New York legal community is stacking up - is out.

Local attorneys say while it has been anything but business as usual over the last 12 months, there are signs that things are looking up - or that the sky was never falling as some people forecast.

Nine of 10 firms retained their position in the top tier of the list, with only Harris Beach PLLC dropping from the top 10. Moving into the top 10 for the first time - from No. 13 to 9 - was HoganWillig, which saw double-digit growth within its attorney ranks with its relocation to a new building that owner Corey Hogan said nearly doubled the firm's space.

"We felt, from our perspective, that we wanted to get to a certain size so we could be effective in providing all of the services our clients want," he said. "We also realize those needs are changing, and we want to be able to help our clients avoid problems rather than solving their problems once they are there."

Hogan says business has been up at the firm. The business is out there, he says, and when times are tough, clients look for a firm that can add extra value through their services.

"We have seen some added buzz since the move," said Managing Partner Diane Tiveron. "But also, it has allowed us to reconnect with some of our clients that we haven't seen in a while, invite them in, and show them around a building we are very proud of."

Other mainstays on the law list credit their ability to weather the economic storm on adjusting the size of underworked practice groups, cutting back on operational costs and capitalizing on growth areas typically seen during a down economic period.

Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham & Coppola (tied for the No. 10 spot with Gibson McAskill & Crosby) never saw business drop off as the economy struggled over the last two years, said Managing Partner Tom Cunningham.

"I would say we actually improved through the slowdown in the economy," Cunningham said. "For the first quarter of the year, our business is up, and last year we were also up (over 2008)."

Cunningham said the firm's corporate-law and commercial-finance practice areas have been especially strong over the last year, along with the commercial-real-estate and commercial-litigation practices.

"We were kind of positioned where, as a medium-sized firm that charges competitive rates, when businesses were looking to save money, they looked to other firms and shopped around and found firms like ours," he said.

One firm that is virtually etched in stone near the top of the annual list is Phillips Lytle LLP. Open up the tattered, yellowed copy of the first Business First Book of Lists from 1984 and you will see Phillips Lytle at what would become its customary position as the second-largest law firm in Western New York. The firm's name may have been longer back then (Phillips Lytle Hitchcock Blaine & Huber), and the address may have then been Marine Midland Center (now known as HSBC Center), but Phillips Lytle has maintained a stronghold on the No. 2 spot. Managing Partner David McNamara said he predicts a stable year ahead with "moderate growth" for his firm as the economy slowly improves.

"I think the big difference between the first quarter of 2010 versus the first quarter of 2009 is that we are seeing some loosening in the credit markets, and our banking practice has been busier through these first three months of 2010," McNamara said. "We often look to our banking transactional practice as a leading indicator for forecasting work in our other business-related practices, so we see this as a positive sign."

While some firms were forced to lay off attorneys and staff over the last year or chose to not replace those who left, McNamara said Phillips was able to shift its staff to areas where business was coming in.

"Many of those banking transactional lawyers are also very good at working out troubled loans," he said, "So it was really just a matter of redirecting their efforts from representing banks in connection with new borrowing to representing banks in connection with restructuring outstanding loans."

While their strategies for survival vary, several managing partners at area law firms have said they're seeing light at the end of the economic tunnel. As the recovery continues, they say, firms in a smaller market like Western New York will be better positioned to succeed.

Comparing Business First's 2010 Law Firms List of 65 area law firms with its 2009 list, here's what you'll find:

• Largest jump in head count: HoganWillig, up 12 lawyers
• Largest drop in head count: Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP, down 9 lawyers
• Firms with more staff attorneys: 17
• Firms where lawyer head count stayed the same: 19
• Firms with fewer staff attorneys: 27
• Net attorney count overall: -20 (down 2.7%)