Huron Consulting Group Inc. - Annual Report: 2014 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10–K

(Mark One)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014

OR

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission file number: 000-50976

HURON CONSULTING GROUP INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

550 West Van Buren Street

Chicago, Illinois 60607

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

(312) 583-8700

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of the Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2014 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter) was approximately $1,632,800,000.

As of February 16, 2015, 22,899,317 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, were outstanding.

Documents Incorporated By Reference

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of its fiscal year are incorporated by reference into Part III.

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HURON CONSULTING GROUP INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2014

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “Huron,” “company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Huron Consulting Group Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are not historical in nature, including those concerning the Company’s current expectations about its future requirements and needs, are “forward-looking” statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “provides,” “anticipates,” “assumes,” “can,” “will,” “meets,” “could,” “likely,” “intends,” “might,” “predicts,” “seeks,” “would,” “believes,” “estimates,” “plans” or “continues.” These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectation about our future requirements and needs, results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation: failure to achieve expected utilization rates, billing rates, and the number of revenue-generating professionals; inability to expand or adjust our service offerings in response to market demands; our dependence on renewal of client-based services; dependence on new business and retention of current clients and qualified personnel; failure to maintain third-party provider relationships and strategic alliances; inability to license technology to and from third parties; the impairment of goodwill; various factors related to income and other taxes; difficulties in successfully integrating the businesses we acquire and achieving expected benefits from such acquisitions; risks relating to privacy, information security, and related laws and standards; and a general downturn in market conditions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, among others, those described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events, or for any other reason.

PART I

OVERVIEW

We are a leading provider of operational and financial consulting services. We help clients in diverse industries improve performance, transform the enterprise, reduce costs, leverage technology, process and review large amounts of complex data, address regulatory changes, recover from distress, and stimulate growth. Our professionals employ their expertise in finance, operations, strategy, analytics, and technology to provide our clients with specialized analyses and customized advice and solutions that are tailored to address each client’s particular challenges and opportunities to deliver sustainable and measurable results. We provide consulting services to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations, including healthcare organizations, leading academic institutions, Fortune 500 companies, governmental entities, and law firms. We have worked with more than 450 health systems, hospitals, and academic medical centers; more than 400 corporate general counsel; and more than 400 universities and research institutions.

Huron was formed in March 2002 and commenced operations in May 2002. We were founded by a core group of experienced financial and operational consultants. In October 2004, we completed our initial public offering and became a publicly traded company. We have grown significantly since we commenced operations, increasing the number of our full-time employees from 249 as of May 31, 2002 to 2,870 as of December 31, 2014, through hiring and acquisitions of complementary businesses. Our acquisitions have included Vonlay, LLC in May 2014; The Frankel Group Associates LLC in January 2014; Blue Stone International in October 2013; Stockamp & Associates, Inc. in July 2008; Wellspring Partners, LLC in January 2007; and Glass & Associates, Inc. in January 2007.

We have hired experienced professionals from a variety of organizations, including the four largest public accounting firms, referred to as the Big Four, other consulting firms, and experienced professionals who are subject matter experts

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across the healthcare, education, legal, and financial industries. As of December 31, 2014, we had 133 client-serving managing directors. These individuals have an average of 26 years of business experience. We have a roster of project consultants and contractors who supplement our full-time client-serving employees on an as-needed basis.

Our headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois, and we have other domestic and international offices, including those located in the following major metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; London, United Kingdom; Madison, Wisconsin; New York, New York; Portland, Oregon; Toronto, Canada; and Washington, D.C. We also have ten discovery centers located in Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Gurgaon, India; Houston, Texas; London, United Kingdom; Miramar, Florida; Morrisville, North Carolina; New York, New York; San Francisco, California; and Washington, D.C., totaling approximately 1,600 workstations.

OUR SERVICES

We provide our services through five operating segments: Huron Healthcare, Huron Legal, Huron Education and Life Sciences, Huron Business Advisory and All Other. For the year ended December 31, 2014, we derived 51%, 23%, 18%, and 8% of our revenues from Huron Healthcare, Huron Legal, Huron Education and Life Sciences, and Huron Business Advisory, respectively.

For further financial information on our segment results, see “Part II—Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Note 16 “Segment Information” within the notes to our consolidated financial statements.

Huron Healthcare

Our Huron Healthcare segment provides consulting services to national and regional hospitals and integrated health systems, academic medical centers, community hospitals, and physician practices. We deliver solutions to enhance the ability of our clients to address challenges in the rapidly evolving healthcare environment and improve quality, increase revenue, reduce expenses, and enhance physician, patient, and employee satisfaction across the healthcare enterprise. Our people provide a depth of expertise across the healthcare industry, and our culture of collaboration extends to our client engagements, enabling teams to effectively implement successful client projects.

This segment’s primary service lines include:

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Huron Legal

Our Huron Legal segment provides advisory and business services to assist law departments of major global corporations and their associated law firms with cost and risk reduction, organizational design and development, and operational efficiency. These services add value to organizations by helping them enhance client service and reduce the amount spent on legal services. Our expertise focuses on strategic and management consulting, cost management, and information governance, including matter management, records management, contract management, document review, and discovery services. Included in this segment’s offerings is our Integrated Analytics solution, which is designed to deliver an innovative, comprehensive process resulting in more affordable and predictable discovery costs.

This segment’s primary service lines include:

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Huron Education and Life Sciences

Our Huron Education and Life Sciences segment provides management consulting services and software solutions to the higher education, academic medical center, pharmaceutical and medical device, and research industries. We work with our clients to develop and implement performance improvement, technology, and research enterprise solutions to help them address challenges relating to financial management, strategy, operational and organizational effectiveness, research administration, and regulatory compliance.

This segment’s primary service lines include:

Huron Business Advisory

Our Huron Business Advisory segment provides services to the C-suite of middle market and large organizations, lending institutions, law firms, investment banks, and private equity firms. We assist clients in a broad range of industries and across the spectrum from healthy, well-capitalized companies to organizations in transition, creditors, owners, and other key constituents. Effective March 31, 2014, Enterprise Performance Management and Analytics became a reporting segment within Huron Business Advisory.

This segment’s primary service lines include:

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All Other

Our All Other segment consists of any line of business not managed by our other four operating segments. These businesses include our public sector consulting practice and our foreign healthcare and strategic consulting operations based in the Middle East.

OUR CLIENTS AND INDUSTRIES

We provide consulting services to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations, including healthcare organizations, leading academic institutions, Fortune 500 companies, governmental entities, and law firms. We have worked with more than 450 health systems, hospitals, and academic medical centers; more than 400 corporate general counsel; and more than 400 universities and research institutions. In 2014, we served over 1,000 clients, including over 250 new clients. Our top ten clients represented approximately 27.3%, 35.2%, and 34.0% of our revenues in the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively, with no single client accounting for more than 10% of our revenues during those years.

Our clients are in a broad array of industries, including healthcare, education, professional services, pharmaceutical, technology, transportation services, telecommunications, financial services, electronics, consumer products, governmental, retail, mining, oil and gas, energy and utilities, and industrial manufacturing. We believe organizations will continue to face complex challenges in the current economic environment. Many organizations are finding themselves in financial distress and are responding to these challenges by restructuring and reorganizing their businesses and capital structures, while financially healthy organizations are striving to maintain their market positions and capitalize on opportunities by improving operations, reducing costs, and enhancing revenues. In addition, organizations have limited dedicated resources to respond effectively to the challenges and opportunities that exist today. Consequently, we believe these organizations will increasingly seek to augment their internal resources with experienced independent consultants with a deep technical skill set similar to the professionals at Huron. Our expertise in assessing, evaluating, and refining business performance management processes and then enhancing processes with technology differentiates us in the market.

EMPLOYEES

Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain, and develop highly talented professionals by creating a work environment where both employees and teams thrive and individuals are rewarded not only for their own contributions but also for the success of our organization as a whole. To accomplish these goals and recognize high performance, we have developed comprehensive employee programs incorporating training and development opportunities, competitive compensation, performance management, benefits and wellness, as well as corporate social responsibility, facilitated through our Huron Helping Hands program and the diversity & inclusion council.

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Our employee population is divided into two groups; client-serving and service and support. As of December 31, 2014, we had 2,870 full-time employees. Of those, 133 are client-serving managing directors. Our client-serving employees serve our clients as critical business advisors in support of transforming their business. Our managing directors are the key drivers of our business. They work externally to serve clients as advisors and engagement team leaders, originate revenue by developing new and existing client relationships, and enhance our reputation. Internally they create our intellectual capital and develop our people. Our senior directors, directors, and managers manage day-to-day client relationships and oversee the delivery and quality of our work product. Our associates and analysts gather and organize data, conduct detailed analyses, and prepare presentations that synthesize and distill information to support recommendations we deliver to clients. Our service and support employees include our senior management team as well as professionals that provide sales support, methodology creation, software development, and the corporate functions consisting of our facilities, finance, human resources, information technology, legal, and marketing teams. These employees provide strategic direction and support that enables the success of our client-serving employees. This population contains 25 managing directors, executives, and corporate vice presidents.

In addition to our full-time employees, we engage project consultants and contractors who supplement our full-time client-serving employees on an as-needed basis by providing highly unique skill sets that are not required to be staffed on a full-time basis. These individuals, many of whom have legal or financial credentials along with prior corporate experience, work variable schedules and are readily available to meet our clients’ needs. Utilizing these project consultants and contractors allows us to maintain a pool of talent with a variable cost structure that enables us to adapt quickly to market demands.

Supporting our employees’ career progression is critical to our retention success. We provide this support through established training and development programs. We provide structured orientation and training programs for new campus hires and experienced employees to enable a more effective assimilation into the Company. “Milestone” programs are year-long development programs offered to recently promoted employees to support their transition to a new role with greater responsibility. In addition to these milestone programs, we offer a variety of leadership development programs for those we deem capable of taking on broader roles in the organization at the senior director and managing director level. We also provide a variety of continuing education opportunities to all our employees, including formal classroom environments, on-line courses, and webinars to further develop employees’ technical knowledge and ability to work cooperatively and coach others. We encourage our employees to enhance their professional skills through outside courses that certify their technical skills and to pursue certain advanced degrees. Employees are assigned internal performance coaches to help them establish expectations that are reviewed quarterly, including identifying opportunities for professional development, formal training, and technical skill certifications.

Our compensation philosophy focuses on rewarding and retaining our high performing employees. To accomplish this, we offer employees a competitive base salary, performance incentives, and competitive benefits.

Our incentive compensation plan is designed to recognize and reward performance of both the organization and individuals and to ensure we properly recognize and retain our top performers. We take both practice and Company financial performance into consideration in the determination of bonus pool funding. At the practice level, the annual bonus pool is funded based on achievement of its annual financial goals. The board of directors then reviews and approves the total incentive compensation pool for all practices in the context of the Company’s overall financial performance. Individual bonus awards are based on the practice’s financial performance, individual bonus targets, and the individual’s performance as evaluated through our performance management process. The intent of the incentive compensation plan is to differentiate rewards based on individual performance, ensuring that our top performers for the year receive incentives that are commensurate with their contributions, enabling us to retain them and continue to provide our clients with exceptional service. The incentive compensation plan for our named executive officers is funded based on a blend of achievement of financial goals and strategic initiatives.

Managing directors’ individual compensation levels, including base and target incentive awards, are set to align with the value of their expected contributions to the organization. As the key drivers of the organization’s success, their compensation is designed to include equity awards as a core component. The use of equity is intended to encourage

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retention, align the interests of our managing directors with shareholders, and help managing directors build wealth over their career at Huron through annual grants as well as stock price appreciation.

Our benefit and wellness programs are designed to be both comprehensive and tailored to our employee population. One specific benefit we have created is a travel reward to recognize the significant travel commitment of our workforce. Our wellness benefits are aimed at supporting our employees in maintaining a healthy lifestyle which is beneficial to the employee and the Company, given the demanding nature of the work. Through these unique benefits, as well as our health and welfare plans, retirement benefits, stock purchase plan, and other standard benefit programs, we provide a core sense of security to our employees.

Our corporate social responsibility efforts are designed to support an individual’s charitable interests while also providing a venue for our employees to come together to make an impact in the communities in which we live and work. In addition, the diversity & inclusion council supports the needs of our growing employee population through employee resource groups and corporate-wide educational efforts to ensure we are fostering a welcoming and nurturing environment for all employees.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING

Our business development activities are aimed at cultivating relationships and building a strong brand reputation with key sources of business and referrals, especially hospital and university administrators, top-tier law firms, and the offices of the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and general counsel of organizations. We believe that excellent service delivery to clients is critical to building and maintaining relationships and our brand reputation, and we emphasize the importance of client service to all of our employees.

We generate most of our new business opportunities through relationships that our managing directors have with individuals working in hospitals and health systems, academic institutions, corporations, and top-tier law firms. We also view cross-selling as a key component in building our business. Often, the client relationship of a managing director in one area leads to opportunities in another area. All of our managing directors understand their role in ongoing relationship and business development, which is reinforced through our compensation and incentive programs. We actively seek to identify new business opportunities, and frequently receive referrals and repeat business from past and current clients and from the law firms with which we have worked. In addition, to complement the business development efforts of our managing directors, we have experienced business developers who are focused exclusively on developing client relationships and generating new business through their extensive network of contacts.

We also host, participate in, and sponsor conferences that facilitate client development opportunities, promote brand recognition, and showcase our industry expertise. For example, during 2014, we hosted events such as the fifth annual CEO Forum—Leading the Journey: Cultivating Success in Healthcare; a webinar on Thriving in the New Healthcare Environment—3 Key Strategies; E-Discovery Briefings produced through The Huron Legal Institute; and numerous other industry webinars and client events. Additionally, we participated in or sponsored numerous conferences for organizations such as National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), Oracle OpenWorld 2014, Workday Rising 2014, Dreamforce 2014, Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), Turnaround Management Association (TMA), National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), ALM (ALM Media Properties, LLC), Center for Business Intelligence (CBI), American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), American Hospital Association (AHA), American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), ARMA International, CBI’s 10th Annual Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress, The Health Management Academy, The Academy Huron Institute, The Healthcare Roundtable, Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), The Estes Park Institute, Children’s Hospital Association, and the Catholic Health Assembly. These events provide a forum to build and strengthen client relationships, as well as to stay abreast of industry trends and developments.

We have a centralized marketing department with marketing professionals assigned to each of our practices. These professionals coordinate traditional marketing programs, such as participation in industry events, sponsorship of

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conferences, development and management of advertising campaigns, development of case studies, and creation and publication of articles in industry publications and newsletters to actively promote our brand and capabilities. The marketing department also manages the content delivery on Huron’s website, develops collateral materials, performs research, and provides ‘request for proposal’ support as well as database management to support sales efforts.

COMPETITION

The consulting services industry is extremely competitive, highly fragmented, and subject to rapid change. The industry includes a large number of participants with a variety of skills and industry expertise, including other business operations and financial consulting firms, general management consulting firms, the consulting practices of major accounting firms, technical and economic advisory firms, regional and specialty consulting firms, and the internal professional resources of organizations. We compete with a large number of service providers in all of our segments. Our competitors often vary depending on the particular practice area. In addition, we also expect to continue to face competition from new entrants because the barriers to entry into consulting services are relatively low.

We believe the principal competitive factors in our market include firm and consultant reputations, the ability to attract and retain top professionals, client and law firm referrals, the ability to manage engagements effectively, and the ability to be responsive and provide high quality services. There is also competition on price, although to a lesser extent due to the critical nature of many of the issues that our service offerings address. Many of our competitors have a greater geographic footprint, including a broader international presence and name recognition, as well as a significantly greater number of personnel, financial, technical, and marketing resources than we do. We believe that our experience, reputation, industry focus, range, and balanced portfolio of service offerings enable us to compete favorably and effectively in the consulting marketplace.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge on our website, www.huronconsultinggroup.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Any materials we file with the SEC may be read and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

The following discussion of risk factors may be important to understanding the statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or elsewhere. The following information should be read in conjunction with “Part II—Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Discussions about the important operational risks that our business encounters can be found in “Part II—Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

An inability to retain our senior management team and other managing directors would be detrimental to the success of our business.

We rely heavily on our senior management team, our practice leaders, and other managing directors; our ability to retain them is particularly important to our future success. Given the highly specialized nature of our services, the senior management team must have a thorough understanding of our service offerings as well as the skills and experience necessary to manage an organization consisting of a diverse group of professionals. In addition, we rely on our senior

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management team and other managing directors to generate and market our business. Further, our senior management’s and other managing directors’ personal reputations and relationships with our clients are a critical element in obtaining and maintaining client engagements. Although we enter into non-solicitation agreements with our senior management team and other managing directors, we generally do not enter into non-competition agreements. Accordingly, members of our senior management team and our other managing directors are not contractually prohibited from leaving or joining one of our competitors, and some of our clients could choose to use the services of that competitor instead of our services. If one or more members of our senior management team or our other managing directors leave and we cannot replace them with a suitable candidate quickly, we could experience difficulty in securing and successfully completing engagements and managing our business properly, which could harm our business prospects and results of operations.

Our inability to hire and retain talented people in an industry where there is great competition for talent could have a serious negative effect on our prospects and results of operations.

Our business involves the delivery of professional services and is highly labor-intensive. Our success depends largely on our general ability to attract, develop, motivate, and retain highly skilled professionals. Further, we must successfully maintain the right mix of professionals with relevant experience and skill sets as we continue to grow, as we expand into new service offerings, and as the market evolves. The loss of a significant number of our professionals, the inability to attract, hire, develop, train, and retain additional skilled personnel, or failure to maintain the right mix of professionals could have a serious negative effect on us, including our ability to manage, staff, and successfully complete our existing engagements and obtain new engagements. Qualified professionals are in great demand, and we face significant competition for both senior and junior professionals with the requisite credentials and experience. Our principal competition for talent comes from other consulting firms and accounting firms, as well as from organizations seeking to staff their internal professional positions. Many of these competitors may be able to offer significantly greater compensation and benefits or more attractive lifestyle choices, career paths, or geographic locations than we do. Therefore, we may not be successful in attracting and retaining the skilled consultants we require to conduct and expand our operations successfully. Increasing competition for these revenue-generating professionals may also significantly increase our labor costs, which could negatively affect our margins and results of operations.

Additional hiring, departures, business acquisitions and dispositions could disrupt our operations, increase our costs or otherwise harm our business.

Our business strategy is dependent in part upon our ability to grow by hiring individuals or groups of individuals and by acquiring complementary businesses. However, we may be unable to identify, hire, acquire, or successfully integrate new employees and acquired businesses without substantial expense, delay, or other operational or financial obstacles. From time to time, we will evaluate the total mix of services we provide and we may conclude that businesses may not achieve the results we previously expected. Competition for future hiring and acquisition opportunities in our markets could increase the compensation we offer to potential employees or the prices we pay for businesses we wish to acquire. In addition, we may be unable to achieve the financial, operational, and other benefits we anticipate from any hiring or acquisition, as well as any disposition, including those we have completed so far. New acquisitions could also negatively impact existing practices and cause current employees to depart. Hiring additional employees or acquiring businesses could also involve a number of additional risks, including:

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All of our prior acquisitions were accounted for as purchases, some of which involved purchase prices well in excess of tangible asset values, resulting in the creation of a significant amount of goodwill and other intangible assets. Under generally accepted accounting principles, we do not amortize goodwill or intangible assets acquired in a business combination that are determined to have indefinite useful lives, but instead review them annually (or more frequently if impairment indicators arise) for impairment. To the extent that we determine that such an asset has been impaired, we will write down its carrying value on our balance sheet and book an impairment charge in our statement of operations. In 2012, we took a goodwill impairment charge of $13.1 million relating to our Huron Business Advisory segment. If, as a result of acquisitions or otherwise, the amount of intangible assets being amortized increases, so will our amortization charges in future periods.

Also, selling practices and shutting down operations present similar challenges in a service business. Divestitures not only require management’s time, but they can impair existing relationships with clients or otherwise affect client satisfaction, particularly in situations where the divestiture eliminates only part of the complement of consulting services provided to a client. If we fail to successfully address these risks, our ability to compete may be impaired and our results of operations may be adversely affected.

Changes in capital markets, legal or regulatory requirements, and general economic or other factors beyond our control could reduce demand for our services, in which case our revenues and profitability could decline.

A number of factors outside of our control affect demand for our services. These include:

We are not able to predict the positive or negative effects that future events or changes to the U.S. or global economy, financial markets, regulatory and business environment could have on our operations.

If we are unable to manage fluctuations in our business successfully, we may not be able to sustain profitability.

We have grown significantly since we commenced operations, increasing the number of our full-time professionals from 249 as of May 31, 2002 to 2,870 as of December 31, 2014. Additionally, our considerable growth has placed

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demands on our management and our internal systems, procedures, and controls and will continue to do so in the near future. To successfully manage growth, we must periodically adjust and strengthen our operating, financial, accounting, and other systems, procedures, and controls, which could increase our costs and may adversely affect our gross profits and our ability to sustain profitability if we do not generate increased revenues to offset the costs. As a public company, our information and control systems must enable us to prepare accurate and timely financial information and other required disclosures. If we discover deficiencies in our existing information and control systems that impede our ability to satisfy our reporting requirements, we must successfully implement improvements to those systems in an efficient and timely manner.

Although we have generated positive earnings since we became a public company, we may not sustain profitability in the future. Additionally, the nature of our services and the general economic environment make it difficult to predict our future operating results. To sustain profitability, we must:

Our business is becoming increasingly dependent on information technology and will require additional investments in order to grow and meet the demands of our clients.

We depend on the use of sophisticated technologies and systems. Some of our practices provide services that are increasingly dependent on the use of software applications and systems that we do not own and could become unavailable. Moreover, our technology platforms will require continuing investments by us in order to expand existing service offerings and develop complementary services. A portion of our business, in which we utilize third-party software technology, has grown over the last few years and now represents a substantial portion of our total revenues. If third-party software technology that is important to our business does not continue to be available to us, or does not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, we may be unable to provide certain services to clients on a cost-efficient and timely basis, which may harm our financial condition and operating results. Our future success depends on our ability to adapt our services and infrastructure while continuing to improve the performance, features, and reliability of our services in response to the evolving demands of the marketplace.

We could experience system failures, service interruptions, or security breaches that could negatively impact our business.

Our organization is comprised of employees who work on matters throughout the United States and overseas. Our technology platform is a “virtual office” from which we all operate. We may be subject to disruption to our operating systems from technology events that are beyond our control, including the possibility of failures at third-party data centers, disruptions to the Internet, natural disasters, power losses, and malicious attacks. In addition, despite the implementation of security measures, our infrastructure and operating systems, including the Internet and related systems, may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, hackers, improper employee or contractor access, computer viruses, programming errors, denial-of-service attacks, or other attacks by third parties seeking to disrupt operations or misappropriate information or similar physical or electronic breaches of security. While we have taken and are taking reasonable steps to prevent and

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mitigate the damage of such events, including implementation of system security measures, information backup, and disaster recovery processes, those steps may not be effective and there can be no assurance that any such steps can be effective against all possible risks. We will need to continue to invest in technology in order to achieve redundancies necessary to prevent service interruptions. Access to our systems as a result of a security breach, the failure of our systems, or the loss of data could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability, or regulatory penalties and disrupt operations, which could adversely affect our business and financial results.

Our reputation could be damaged and we could incur additional liabilities if we fail to protect client and employee data through our own accord or if our information systems are breached.

We rely on information technology systems to process, transmit, and store electronic information and to communicate among our locations around the world and with our clients, partners, and employees. The breadth and complexity of this infrastructure increases the potential risk of security breaches which could lead to potential unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

In providing services to clients, we may manage, utilize, and store sensitive or confidential client or employee data, including personal data. As a result, we are subject to numerous laws and regulations designed to protect this information, such as the U.S. federal and state laws governing the protection of health or other personally identifiable information and international laws such as the European Union Directive on Data Protection.

These laws and regulations are increasing in complexity and number. If any person, including any of our employees, negligently disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to client or employee data, or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to significant monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions, fines, and/or criminal prosecution. In addition, unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client or employee data, whether through systems failure, employee negligence, fraud, or misappropriation, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose clients and their related revenue in the future.

Our international expansion could result in additional risks.

We operate both domestically and internationally, including in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Although historically our international operations have been limited, we intend to continue to expand internationally. Such expansion may result in additional risks that are not present domestically and which could adversely affect our business or our results of operations, including:

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Further, conducting business abroad subjects us to increased regulatory compliance and oversight. For example, in connection with our international operations, we are subject to laws prohibiting certain payments to governmental officials, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act. The provisions of the U.K. Bribery Act may apply outside of the U.K. and due to our U.K. based subsidiaries, we and our employees could be subject to liability for alleged activities involving bribery even if such activities were to take place outside of the U.K. A failure to comply with applicable regulations could result in regulatory enforcement actions as well as substantial civil and criminal penalties assessed against us and our employees.

Our obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by a pledge of certain of the equity interests in our subsidiaries and a lien on substantially all of our assets and those of our subsidiary grantors. If we default on these obligations, our lenders may foreclose on our assets, including our pledged equity interest in our subsidiaries.

On April 14, 2011, we entered into a security agreement with Bank of America (the “Security Agreement”) in connection with our entry into the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of April 14, 2011 (as amended and modified, the “2011 Credit Agreement”). Pursuant to the Security Agreement and to secure our obligations under the 2011 Credit Agreement, we granted our lenders a first-priority lien, subject to permitted liens, on substantially all of the personal property assets that we and the subsidiary grantors own. This first-priority lien is in addition to the existing pledge (the “Equity Pledge”) that we previously granted to our lenders of 100% of the voting stock or other equity interests in our domestic subsidiaries and 65% of the voting stock or other equity interests in our foreign subsidiaries. If we default on our obligations under the 2011 Credit Agreement, our lenders could accelerate our indebtedness and may be able to exercise their liens on the equity interests subject to the Equity Pledge and their liens on substantially all of our assets and the assets of our subsidiary grantors, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, financial condition, and liquidity. In addition, the covenants contained in the 2011 Credit Agreement impose restrictions on our ability to engage in certain activities, such as the incurrence of additional indebtedness, certain investments, certain acquisitions and dispositions, and the payment of dividends.

Our indebtedness could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations and obligations, expose us to interest rate risk to the extent of our variable-rate debt, and adversely affect our financial results.

At December 31, 2014, we had outstanding indebtedness totaling $393.8 million, including $250 million principal amount of our 1.25% convertible senior notes. Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, make payments upon conversion, or to refinance our indebtedness, depends on our future performance. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to satisfy our obligations under our current indebtedness and any future indebtedness we may incur and to make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as reducing or delaying investments or capital expenditures, selling assets, refinancing, or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our current indebtedness or future indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on the current indebtedness or future indebtedness.

In addition, our indebtedness, combined with our other financial obligations and contractual commitments, could have other important consequences. For example, it could:

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Any of these factors could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, if we incur additional indebtedness, the risks related to our business and our ability to service or repay our indebtedness would increase.

The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as our convertible notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial results.

Under GAAP, an entity must separately account for the debt component and the embedded conversion option of convertible debt instruments that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion, such as our convertible notes, in a manner that reflects a company’s economic interest cost. The effect of the accounting treatment for such instruments is that the value of such embedded conversion option would be treated as an original issue discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the notes and that original issue discount is amortized into interest expense over the term of the notes using an effective yield method. As a result, over the term of our convertible notes, we will initially be required to record a greater amount of noncash interest expense. Accordingly, we will report lower net income in our financial results because of the recognition of both the current period’s amortization of the debt discount and our convertible notes’ coupon interest, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock, and the trading price of our convertible notes.

Under certain circumstances, the shares of common stock underlying convertible debt instruments (such as our convertible notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash are reflected in earnings per share utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that such shares of common stock are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the notes exceeds their principal amount at the end of the reporting period. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, our convertible notes are accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares of common stock, are issued. The accounting standards in the future may not continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. If we are unable to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of our convertible notes, then our diluted earnings per share could be adversely affected.

In addition, if the conditional conversion feature of our convertible notes is triggered, even if holders do not elect to convert their convertible notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all of the outstanding principal of our convertible notes as a current, rather than long-term, liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.

We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to pay the amount of cash due upon conversion of our convertible notes, if relevant, or the fundamental change repurchase price due when a holder submits its convertible notes for repurchase upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, and our debt may contain limitations on our ability to pay cash upon conversion or required repurchase of our convertible notes.

Upon the occurrence of a fundamental change as defined in the indenture governing our convertible notes, holders of our convertible notes may require us to repurchase, for cash, all or a portion of their convertible notes at a repurchase

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price equal to 100% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. In addition, upon conversion of our convertible notes, we will be required to make cash payments in respect of our convertible notes being converted, including if the conditional conversion feature of our convertible notes is triggered, unless we elect to deliver solely shares of our common stock to settle such conversion.

We may not have sufficient financial resources, or may be unable to arrange financing, to pay the fundamental change repurchase price if holders of our convertible notes submit their convertible notes for purchase by us upon the occurrence of a fundamental change or to pay the amount of cash (if any) due if holders of our convertible notes surrender their convertible notes for conversion. In addition, the occurrence of a fundamental change may cause an event of default under agreements governing our or our subsidiaries’ indebtedness. Agreements governing any of our future debt may restrict our ability to make each of the required cash payments even if we have sufficient funds to make them. Furthermore, our ability to purchase our convertible notes or to pay cash (if any) due upon the conversion of our convertible notes may be limited by law or regulatory authorities. In addition, if we fail to repurchase our convertible notes or to pay the amount of cash (if any) due upon conversion of our convertible notes, we will be in default under the indenture. A default under the indenture or the fundamental change itself could also lead to a default under agreements governing our other indebtedness, which in turn may result in the acceleration of such other indebtedness we may then have outstanding. If the repayment of the other indebtedness were to be accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds to repay that indebtedness and to repurchase our convertible notes or to pay the amount of cash (if any) due upon conversion.

The fundamental change provisions associated with our convertible notes may delay or prevent an otherwise beneficial takeover attempt of us.

The fundamental change purchase rights, which will allow holders of our convertible notes to require us to repurchase all or a portion of their convertible notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, and the provisions requiring an increase to the conversion rate for conversions in connection with certain other circumstances may delay or prevent a takeover of us that might otherwise be beneficial to investors.

The convertible note hedge transactions and the warrant transactions may affect the value of our convertible notes and our common stock.

In connection with the pricing of our convertible notes, we entered into privately negotiated convertible note hedge transactions with affiliates of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Securities as hedge counterparties. The convertible note hedge transactions collectively cover, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, the number of shares of common stock that initially underlie our convertible notes. We also entered into separate privately negotiated warrant transactions with the hedge counterparties relating to the same number of shares of our common stock, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments.

We expect that the hedge counterparties and/or their affiliates may modify their hedge positions with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions and the warrant transactions from time to time by purchasing and/or selling shares of our common stock and/or our convertible notes in privately negotiated transactions and/or open market transactions or by entering into and/or unwinding various over-the-counter derivative transactions with respect to our common stock. This activity could also cause or prevent an increase or decrease in the market value of our common stock. In addition, the hedge counterparties and/or their affiliates may choose to engage in, or to discontinue engaging in, any of these transactions with or without notice at any time, and their decisions will be in their sole discretion and not within our control.

The hedge counterparties are financial institutions which will be subject to the risk that one or both of the hedge counterparties might default under their respective convertible note hedge transactions. Upon a default by any hedge counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of the hedge counterparties.

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Our intellectual property rights in our “Huron Consulting Group” name are important, and any inability to use that name could negatively impact our ability to build brand identity.

We believe that establishing, maintaining, and enhancing the “Huron Consulting Group” name is important to our business. We are, however, aware of a number of other companies that use names containing “Huron.” There could be potential trade name or service mark infringement claims brought against us by the users of these similar names and marks and those users may have trade name or service mark rights that are senior to ours. If another company were to successfully challenge our right to use our name, or if we were unable to prevent a competitor from using a name that is similar to our name, our ability to build brand identity could be negatively impacted.

Our financial results could suffer if we are unable to achieve or maintain adequate utilization and suitable billing rates for our consultants.

Our profitability depends to a large extent on the utilization and billing rates of our professionals. Utilization of our professionals is affected by a number of factors, including:

The billing rates of our consultants that we are able to charge are also affected by a number of factors, including:

If we are unable to achieve and maintain adequate overall utilization as well as maintain or increase the billing rates for our consultants, our financial results could materially suffer. In addition, our consultants oftentimes perform services at the physical locations of our clients. If there are natural disasters, disruptions to travel and transportation or problems with communications systems, our ability to perform services for, and interact with, our clients at their physical locations may be negatively impacted which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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Our quarterly results of operations have fluctuated in the past and may continue to fluctuate in the future as a result of certain factors, some of which may be outside of our control.

A key element of our strategy is to market our products and services directly to certain large organizations, such as health systems and acute care hospitals, and to increase the number of our products and services utilized by existing clients. The sales cycle for some of our products and services is often lengthy and may involve significant commitment of client personnel. As a consequence, the commencement date of a client engagement often cannot be accurately forecasted. As discussed below, certain of our client contracts contain terms that result in revenue that is deferred and cannot be recognized until the occurrence of certain events. As a result, the period of time between contract signing and recognition of associated revenue may be lengthy, and we are not able to predict with certainty the period in which revenue will be recognized.

Certain of our contracts provide that some portion or all of our fees are at risk if our services do not result in the achievement of certain financial performance targets. To the extent that any revenue is contingent upon the achievement of a performance target, we only recognize revenue upon client confirmation that the performance targets have been achieved. If a client fails to provide such confirmation in a timely manner, our ability to recognize revenue will be delayed.

Other fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations may be due to a number of other factors, some of which are not within our control, including:

We base our annual employee bonus expense upon our expected annual adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) for that year. If we experience lower adjusted EBITDA in a quarter without a corresponding change to our full-year adjusted EBITDA expectation, our estimated bonus expense will not be reduced, which will have a negative impact on our quarterly results of operations for that quarter. Our quarterly results of operations may vary significantly and period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations may not be meaningful. The results of one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. If our quarterly results of operations fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially.

Revenues from our performance-based engagements are difficult to predict, and the timing and extent of recovery of our costs is uncertain.

We have engagement agreements under which our fees include a significant performance-based component. Performance-based fees are contingent on the achievement of specific measures, such as our clients meeting cost-saving or other contractually defined goals. The achievement of these contractually-defined goals may be subject to acknowledgement by the client and is often impacted by factors outside of our control, such as the actions of the client or other third parties. Because performance-based fees are contingent, revenues on such engagements, which are recognized when all revenue recognition criteria are met, are not certain and the timing of receipt is difficult to predict and may not occur evenly throughout the year. The percentage of our revenues derived from performance-based fees for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, was 13.6%, 14.6%, and 14.2%, respectively. A greater number of performance-based fee arrangements may result in increased volatility in our working capital requirements and greater variations in our quarter-to-quarter results, which could affect the price of our common stock. In addition, an increase in the proportion of performance-based fee arrangements may temporarily offset the positive effect on our operating results from an increase in our utilization rate until the related revenues are recognized.

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The profitability of our fixed-fee engagements with clients may not meet our expectations if we underestimate the cost of these engagements.

When making proposals for fixed-fee engagements, we estimate the costs and timing for completing the engagements. These estimates reflect our best judgment regarding the efficiencies of our methodologies and consultants as we plan to deploy them on engagements. Any increased or unexpected costs or unanticipated delays in connection with the performance of fixed-fee engagements, including delays caused by factors outside our control, could make these contracts less profitable or unprofitable, which would have an adverse effect on our profit margin. For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, fixed-fee engagements represented 39.6%, 37.2%, and 34.7% of our revenues, respectively.

Our business performance might not be sufficient for us to meet the full-year financial guidance that we provide publicly.

We provide full-year financial guidance to the public based upon our expectations regarding our financial performance. While we believe that our annual financial guidance provides investors and analysts with insight to our view of the Company’s future performance, such financial guidance is based on assumptions that may not always prove to be accurate and may vary from actual results. If we fail to meet the full-year financial guidance that we provide, or if we find it necessary to revise such guidance during the year, the market value of our common stock could be adversely affected.

Expanding our service offerings or number of offices may not be profitable.

We may choose to develop new service offerings, open new offices, or eliminate service offerings because of market opportunities or client demands. Developing new service offerings involves inherent risks, including:

In addition, expanding into new geographic areas and expanding current service offerings is challenging and may require integrating new employees into our culture as well as assessing the demand in the applicable market. If we cannot manage the risks associated with new service offerings or new locations effectively, we are unlikely to be successful in these efforts, which could harm our ability to sustain profitability and our business prospects.

The healthcare industry is an area of significant focus for our business, and factors that adversely affect the financial condition of the healthcare industry could consequently affect our business.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from clients in the healthcare industry. As a result, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected by conditions affecting the healthcare industry generally and hospitals and health systems particularly. The healthcare industry is highly regulated and is subject to changing political, legislative, regulatory, and other influences. Existing and new federal and state laws and regulations affecting the healthcare industry could create unexpected liabilities for us, could cause us or our clients to incur additional costs, and could restrict our or our clients’ operations. Many healthcare laws are complex and their application to us, our clients, or the specific services and relationships we have with our clients are not always clear. In addition, federal and state legislatures have periodically introduced programs to reform or amend the U.S. healthcare system at both the federal and state level, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of

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2010. Due to the significant implementation issues arising under these laws, it is unclear what long-term effects they will have on the healthcare industry and in turn on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our failure to accurately anticipate the application of these laws and regulations, or our failure to comply with such laws and regulations, could create liability for us, result in adverse publicity and negatively affect our business.

There are many factors that could affect the purchasing practices, operations, and, ultimately, the operating funds of healthcare organizations, such as reimbursement policies for healthcare expenses, federal and state budgetary considerations, consolidation in the healthcare industry, and regulation, litigation, and general economic conditions. In particular, we could be required to make unplanned modifications of our products and services (which would require additional time and investment) or we could suffer reductions in demand for our products and services as a result of changes in regulations affecting the healthcare industry, such as changes in the way that healthcare organizations are paid for their services (e.g. based on patient outcomes instead of services provided).

In addition, state tax authorities have challenged the tax-exempt status of some hospitals and other healthcare facilities claiming such status on the basis that they are operating as charitable and/or religious organizations. If the tax-exempt status of any of our clients is revoked or compromised by new legislation or interpretation of existing legislation, that client’s financial health could be adversely affected, which could adversely impact demand for our services, our sales, revenue, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our ability to maintain and attract new business and talented personnel depends upon our reputation, the professional reputation of our revenue-generating employees, and the quality of our services.

As a professional services firm, our ability to secure new engagements and retain and attract talented personnel depends heavily upon our reputation and the individual reputations of our professionals. Any factor that diminishes our reputation or that of our employees, including not meeting client expectations or misconduct by our employees, could make it substantially more difficult for us to attract new engagements, clients, and employees. Similarly, because we obtain many of our new engagements from former or current clients or from referrals by those clients or by law firms that we have worked with in the past, any client that questions the quality of our work or that of our consultants could impair our ability to secure additional new engagements and clients.

A significant portion of our revenues is derived from a limited number of clients, and our engagement agreements, including those related to our largest clients, can be terminated by our clients with little or no notice and without penalty, which may cause our operating results to be unpredictable.

As a consulting firm, we have derived, and expect to continue to derive, a significant portion of our revenues from a limited number of clients. Our ten largest clients accounted for approximately 27.3%, 35.2%, and 34.0% of our revenues for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively. No single client accounted for more than 10% of our revenues in 2014, 2013, or 2012. Our clients typically retain us on an engagement-by-engagement basis, rather than under fixed-term contracts; the volume of work performed for any particular client is likely to vary from year to year, and a major client in one fiscal period may not require or may decide not to use our services in any subsequent fiscal period. Moreover, a large portion of our new engagements comes from existing clients. Accordingly, the failure to obtain new large engagements or multiple engagements from existing or new clients could have a material adverse effect on the amount of revenues we generate.

In addition, almost all of our engagement agreements can be terminated by our clients with little or no notice and without penalty. For example, in engagements related to litigation, if the litigation were to be settled, our engagement for those services would no longer be necessary and, therefore, would be terminated. In client engagements that involve multiple engagements or stages, there is a risk that a client may choose not to retain us for additional stages of an engagement or that a client will cancel or delay additional planned engagements. For clients in bankruptcy, a bankruptcy court could elect not to retain our interim management consultants, terminate our retention, require us to reduce our fees for the duration of an engagement, or approve claims against fees earned by us prior to or after the bankruptcy filing.

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Terminations of engagements, cancellations of portions of the project plan, delays in the work schedule, or reductions in fees could result from factors unrelated to our services. When engagements are terminated or reduced, we lose the associated future revenues, and we may not be able to recover associated costs or redeploy the affected employees in a timely manner to minimize the negative impact. In addition, our clients’ ability to terminate engagements with little or no notice and without penalty makes it difficult to predict our operating results in any particular fiscal period.

Our engagements could result in professional liability, which could be very costly and hurt our reputation.

Our engagements typically involve complex analyses and the exercise of professional judgment. As a result, we are subject to the risk of professional liability. From time to time, lawsuits with respect to our work are pending. Litigation alleging that we performed negligently or breached any other obligations could expose us to significant legal liabilities and, regardless of outcome, is often very costly, could distract our management, could damage our reputation, and could harm our financial condition and operating results. In addition, certain of our engagements, including interim management engagements and corporate restructurings, involve greater risks than other consulting engagements. We are not always able to include provisions in our engagement agreements that are designed to limit our exposure to legal claims relating to our services. While we attempt to identify and mitigate our exposure with respect to liability arising out of our consulting engagements, these efforts may be ineffective and an actual or alleged error or omission on our part or the part of our client or other third parties in one or more of our engagements could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we carry professional liability insurance to cover many of these types of claims, but the policy limits and the breadth of coverage may be inadequate to cover any particular claim or all claims plus the cost of legal defense. For example, we provide services on engagements in which the impact on a client may substantially exceed the limits of our errors and omissions insurance coverage. If we are found to have professional liability with respect to work performed on such an engagement, we may not have sufficient insurance to cover the entire liability.

The consulting services industry is highly competitive and we may not be able to compete effectively.

The consulting services industry in which we operate includes a large number of participants and is intensely competitive. We face competition from other business operations and financial consulting firms, general management consulting firms, the consulting practices of major accounting firms, regional and specialty consulting firms, the internal professional resources of organizations, and legal services providers. In addition, because there are relatively low barriers to entry, we expect to continue to face additional competition from new entrants into the business operations and financial consulting industries. Competition in several of the sectors in which we operate is particularly intense as many of our competitors are seeking to expand their market share in these sectors. Many of our competitors have a greater national and international presence, as well as have a significantly greater number of personnel, financial, technical, and marketing resources. In addition, these competitors may generate greater revenues and have greater name recognition than we do. Some of our competitors may also have lower overhead and other costs and, therefore, may be able to more effectively compete through lower cost service offerings. Our ability to compete also depends in part on the ability of our competitors to hire, retain, and motivate skilled professionals, the price at which others offer comparable services, the ability of our competitors to offer new and valuable products and services to clients, and our competitors’ responsiveness to their clients. If we are unable to compete successfully with our existing competitors or with any new competitors, our financial results will be adversely affected.

Conflicts of interest could preclude us from accepting engagements thereby causing decreased utilization and revenues.

We provide services in connection with bankruptcy, litigation, and other proceedings that usually involve sensitive client information and frequently are adversarial. In connection with bankruptcy proceedings, we are required by law to be “disinterested” and may not be able to provide multiple services to a particular client. In litigation, we would generally be prohibited from performing services in the same litigation for the party adverse to our client. In addition, our engagement agreement with a client or other business reasons may preclude us from accepting engagements from time to time with

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our clients’ competitors or adversaries. As we adjust the size of our operations and the complement of consulting services, the number of conflict situations may continue to increase. Moreover, in many industries in which we provide services, there has been a continuing trend toward business consolidations and strategic alliances. These consolidations and alliances reduce the number of companies that may seek our services and increase the chances that we will be unable to accept new engagements as a result of conflicts of interest. If we are unable to accept new engagements for any reason, our consultants may become underutilized, which would adversely affect our revenues and results of operations in future periods.

None.

As of December 31, 2014, our principal executive offices in Chicago, Illinois, consisted of approximately 160,000 square feet of office space, under a lease expiring September 2024. We have one five-year renewal option that will allow us to continue to occupy this office space until September 2029. This facility accommodates our executive team and corporate departments, as well as professionals in each of our practices. Additionally, we occupy leased facilities for our other domestic and international offices, including those located in the following major metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; London, United Kingdom; Madison, Wisconsin; New York City, New York; Portland, Oregon; Toronto, Canada; and Washington, D.C. We also occupy leased facilities for our ten discovery centers located in Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Gurgaon, India; Houston, Texas; London, United Kingdom; Miramar, Florida; Morrisville, North Carolina; New York City, New York; San Francisco, California; and Washington, D.C., totaling approximately 1,600 workstations. We do not own any real property. We believe that our leased facilities are adequate to meet our current needs and that additional facilities are available for lease to meet future needs.

Tamalluk Business Development LLC v. Huron Consulting Services LLC (Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance)

On August 22, 2013, we learned that Tamalluk Business Development LLC, who was Huron’s agent in Abu Dhabi, and its principal, Mubarak Ahmad Bin Hamouda Al Dhaheri, filed a claim against Huron Consulting Services LLC in the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance. The lawsuit alleges that under the agency agreement, Tamalluk was entitled to a commission on certain amounts that Huron collected from Abu Dhabi clients, and that Huron breached the agreement with Tamalluk and caused damages by declining to enter into a client engagement in Abu Dhabi and subsequently terminating the agency agreement with Tamalluk. Claimants allege they are entitled to $50 million for damage to reputation and defamation and another $50 million for breach of contract. Huron submitted its written response on September 25, 2013. The response states that Huron had the right to terminate the agency agreement with Tamalluk, and Huron had the sole discretion whether to accept or reject an engagement. Huron also filed a counterclaim on October 10, 2013 seeking a judicial order to permit the cancellation of Huron’s commercial license to allow Huron to cease doing business in Abu Dhabi. On December 17, 2013, the Abu Dhabi court ruled in Huron’s favor on all claims and held that Huron permissibly terminated the contract with Tamalluk and Huron does not owe Tamalluk any compensation related to Tamalluk’s claims. In addition, the court terminated the Local Sponsorship Agreement as requested by Huron in its counterclaim. Tamalluk appealed the decision, and on March 18, 2014, the appellate court upheld the decision in Huron’s favor. Tamalluk filed an appeal on May 18, 2014 to the Court of Cassation, which is the highest court in Abu Dhabi. On October 21, 2014, the Court of Cassation referred the case back to the appellate court for consideration of Claimants’ allegations relating to damage to reputation and defamation, which the appellate court had not previously addressed. The Court of Cassation ruled in Huron’s favor on the other claims and on Huron’s counterclaim. We continue to believe that the remaining claims are without merit and intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter.

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Physiotherapy Associates

In 2011, Huron was engaged to design and implement new processes, software, tools, and techniques to assist Physiotherapy Associates, Inc. (“PA”) in reducing older accounts receivable levels and optimizing cash flow. The engagement agreement specifically provides that Huron will not be auditing financial statements and that Huron’s services are not designed, and should not be relied on, to disclose weaknesses in internal controls, financial statement errors, irregularities, illegal acts, or disclosure deficiencies.

In November 2013, Physiotherapy Holdings, Inc., and certain subsidiaries and affiliates (including PA) filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy pursuant to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, which resulted in part from claims related to an alleged overstatement of PA’s revenues and profitability in connection with the sale of PA in 2012. The Joint Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”), which was confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court in December 2013, establishes and funds a Litigation Trust to pursue certain claims on behalf of certain beneficiaries. The Plan discloses a lengthy list of potential defendants and witnesses regarding these claims, including but not limited to the debtors’ officers, directors, certain employees, former owners, investment bankers, auditors, and various consultants. This list of potential defendants and witnesses includes Huron, as well as three of Huron’s current or former employees.

The Plan suggests that Huron, among others, was involved in “actively marketing PA” for sale and provided opinions to unnamed parties “defending the quality of PA’s earnings.” The Plan further states that the damages to be sought by the Litigation Trust will exceed $300 million. The Litigation Trust has not specified against which potential defendants it will bring claims, if any. We believe the Litigation Trust’s allegations with respect to Huron are without merit and will vigorously defend ourselves should any claim arising out of these alleged facts and circumstances be asserted against us by the Litigation Trust.

From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we are not a party to any other litigation or legal proceeding that, in the current opinion of management, could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. However, due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in legal proceedings, actual results could differ from current expected results.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “HURN.” The following table sets forth, on a per share basis and for the periods indicated, the high and low sale prices for our common stock as reported by The NASDAQ Stock Market.

Holders

As of February 16, 2015, there were 776 registered holders of record of Huron’s common stock. A number of the Company’s stockholders have their shares in street name; therefore, the Company believes that there are substantially more beneficial owners of its common stock.

Dividends

We have not declared or paid dividends on our common stock since we became a public company. Our board of directors re-evaluates this policy periodically. Any determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of the board of directors and will be dependent upon our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, terms of our financing arrangements, and such other factors as the board of directors deems relevant. In addition, our 2011 Credit Agreement restricts dividends to an amount up to $50 million plus 50% of cumulative consolidated net income from the closing date of the 2011 Credit Agreement plus 50% of the net cash proceeds from equity issuances.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The information required by this item appears under “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholders Matters” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

Our 2012 Omnibus Incentive Plan and our 2004 Omnibus Stock Plan, which was replaced by the 2012 Omnibus Incentive Plan on a prospective basis, permit the netting of common stock upon vesting of restricted stock awards to

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satisfy individual tax withholding requirements. During the quarter ended December 31, 2014, we reacquired 2,753 shares of common stock with a weighted average fair market value of $69.71 as a result of such tax withholdings.

In February 2014, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program permitting the Company to repurchase up to $50 million of its common stock through February 28, 2015 (the “February 2014 Share Repurchase Program”). In October 2014, we completed the February 2014 Share Repurchase Program.

In October 2014, our board of directors authorized an additional share repurchase program permitting the Company to repurchase up to $50 million of its common stock through October 31, 2015 (the “October 2014 Share Repurchase Program”). The amount and timing of the repurchases will be determined by management and will depend on a variety of factors, including the trading price of the Company’s common stock, general market and business conditions, and applicable legal requirements.

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We have derived the following selected consolidated financial data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2010 through 2014 from our Consolidated Financial Statements. The following data reflects the business acquisitions that we have completed through December 31, 2014. The results of operations for acquired businesses have been included in our results of operations since the date of their acquisitions. The following data also reflects the classification of discontinued operations as of December 31, 2014. The information set forth below is not necessarily indicative of the results of future operations and should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the information under “Part II—Item 6. Selected Financial Data,” and our historical audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes appearing under “Part II—Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations contains forward-looking statements and involves numerous risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, those described under “Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

OVERVIEW

We are a leading provider of operational and financial consulting services. We help clients in diverse industries improve performance, transform the enterprise, reduce costs, leverage technology, process and review large amounts of complex data, address regulatory changes, recover from distress, and stimulate growth. Our professionals employ their expertise in finance, operations, strategy, analytics, and technology to provide our clients with specialized analyses and

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customized advice and solutions that are tailored to address each client’s particular challenges and opportunities to deliver sustainable and measurable results. We provide consulting services to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations, including healthcare organizations, leading academic institutions, Fortune 500 companies, governmental entities, and law firms.

We provide our services and manage our business under five operating segments: Huron Healthcare, Huron Legal, Huron Education and Life Sciences, Huron Business Advisory, and All Other.

During the first quarter of 2014, we reorganized our internal operating structure to better align our service offerings and moved our Enterprise Performance Management (“EPM”) practice (formerly referred to as Blue Stone International, a business that we acquired during the fourth quarter of 2013) from the Huron Education and Life Sciences segment to the Huron Business Advisory segment.

See “Part I—Item 1. Business—Overview—Our Services” and Note 16 “Segment Information” within the notes to our consolidated financial statements for a detailed discussion of our five segments.

How We Generate Revenues

A large portion of our revenues is generated by our full-time consultants who provide consulting services to our clients and are billable to our clients based on the number of hours worked. A smaller portion of our revenues is generated by our other professionals, also referred to as full-time equivalents, all of whom work variable schedules as needed by our clients. Other professionals include specialized finance and operational consultants and our document review and electronic data discovery groups, as well as full-time employees who provide software support and maintenance services to our clients. Our document review and electronic data discovery groups generate revenues primarily based on number of hours worked and units produced, such as pages reviewed or amount of data processed. We translate the hours that these other professionals work on client engagements into a full-time equivalent measure that we use to manage our business. We refer to our full-time consultants and other professionals collectively as revenue-generating professionals.

Revenues generated by our full-time consultants are primarily driven by the number of consultants we employ and their utilization rates, as well as the billing rates we charge our clients. Revenues generated by our other professionals, or full-time equivalents, are largely dependent on the number of consultants we employ, their hours worked, and billing rates charged, as well as the number of pages reviewed and amount of data processed in the case of our document review and electronic data discovery groups, respectively.

We generate the majority of our revenues from providing professional services under four types of billing arrangements: time-and-expense, fixed-fee (including software license revenue), performance-based, and support and maintenance for the software we deploy.

Time-and-expense billing arrangements require the client to pay based on either the number of hours worked, the number of pages reviewed, or the amount of data processed by our revenue-generating professionals at agreed upon rates. We recognize revenues under time-and-expense billing arrangements as the related services are rendered. Time-and-expense engagements represented 43.6%, 44.9%, and 47.7% of our revenues in 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively.

In fixed-fee billing arrangements, we agree to a pre-established fee in exchange for a predetermined set of professional services. We set the fees based on our estimates of the costs and timing for completing the engagements. It is the client’s expectation in these engagements that the pre-established fee will not be exceeded except in mutually agreed upon circumstances. We generally recognize revenues under fixed-fee billing arrangements using a proportionate performance approach, which is based on work completed to-date versus our estimates of the total services to be provided under the engagement.

We generate revenues from licensing two types of proprietary software to clients: revenue cycle management software and research administration and compliance software. Licenses for our revenue cycle management software are

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sold only as a component of our consulting projects, and the services we provide are essential to the functionality of the software. Therefore, revenues from these software licenses are recognized over the term of the related consulting services contract, which are typically fixed-fee. License revenue from our research administration and compliance software is generally recognized in the month in which the software is delivered.

For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, fixed-fee engagements (including software license revenue) represented approximately 39.6%, 37.2%, and 34.7% of our revenues, respectively.

In performance-based fee billing arrangements, fees are tied to the attainment of contractually defined objectives. We enter into performance-based engagements in essentially two forms. First, we generally earn fees that are directly related to the savings formally acknowledged by the client as a result of adopting our recommendations for improving operational and cost effectiveness in the areas we review. Second, we have performance-based engagements in which we earn a success fee when and if certain predefined outcomes occur. Often, performance-based fees supplement our time-and-expense or fixed-fee engagements. We do not recognize revenues under performance-based billing arrangements until all related performance criteria are met. Performance-based fee revenues represented 13.5%, 14.6%, and 14.2% of our revenues in 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively. Performance-based fee engagements may cause significant variations in quarterly revenues and operating results depending on the timing of achieving the performance-based criteria.

Clients that have purchased one of our software licenses can pay an annual fee for software support and maintenance. Annual support and maintenance fee revenue is recognized ratably over the support period, which is generally one year. These fees are typically billed in advance and included in deferred revenues until recognized. Support and maintenance revenues represented 3.3%, 3.3%, and 3.4% of our revenues in 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively.

Our quarterly results are impacted principally by our full-time consultants’ utilization rate, the billing rates we charge our clients, the number of our revenue-generating professionals who are available to work, and the amount of performance-based fees recognized, which often vary significantly between quarters. Our utilization rate can be negatively affected by increased hiring because there is generally a transition period for new professionals that results in a temporary drop in our utilization rate. Our utilization rate can also be affected by seasonal variations in the demand for our services from our clients. For example, during the third and fourth quarters of the year, vacations taken by our clients can result in the deferral of activity on existing and new engagements, which would negatively affect our utilization rate. The number of business work days is also affected by the number of vacation days taken by our consultants and holidays in each quarter. We typically have fewer business work days available in the fourth quarter of the year, which can impact revenues during that period.

Time-and-expense engagements do not provide us with a high degree of predictability as to performance in future periods. Unexpected changes in the demand for our services can result in significant variations in utilization and revenues and present a challenge to optimal hiring and staffing. Moreover, our clients typically retain us on an engagement-by-engagement basis, rather than under long-term recurring contracts. The volume of work performed for any particular client can vary widely from period to period.

Reimbursable expenses

Reimbursable expenses that are billed to clients, primarily relating to travel and out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with engagements, are included in total revenues and reimbursable expenses, and typically an equivalent amount of these expenses are included in total direct costs and reimbursable expenses. Reimbursable expenses also include those subcontractors who are billed to our clients at cost. We manage our business on the basis of revenues before reimbursable expenses. We believe this is the most accurate reflection of our services because it eliminates the effect of reimbursable expenses that we bill to our clients at cost.

Total direct costs

Our most significant expenses are costs classified as total direct costs. These total direct costs primarily include salaries, performance bonuses, payroll taxes, and benefits for revenue-generating professionals, legal consulting facilities,

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and technology costs, as well as fees paid to independent contractors that we retain to supplement our revenue-generating professionals, typically on an as-needed basis for specific client engagements. Direct costs also include share-based compensation, which represents the cost of restricted stock and performance-based share awards granted to our revenue-generating professionals. Compensation expense for restricted stock awards and performance-based share awards is recognized ratably using either the graded vesting attribution method or the straight-line attribution method, as appropriate, over the requisite service period, which is generally three to four years. As a result of the granting of restricted stock awards, performance-based share awards, and anticipated future awards, share-based compensation expense may increase in the future. Total direct costs also include amortization of intangible assets relating to customer contracts, certain customer relationships, technology and software, and a document reviewer database, as well as internally developed software costs.

Operating expenses and other operating gains

Our operating expenses include selling, general, and administrative expenses, which consist primarily of salaries, performance bonuses, payroll taxes, benefits, and share-based compensation for our support personnel. As a result of the granting of restricted stock awards and performance-based share awards and anticipated future awards, share-based compensation expense may increase in the future. Also included in this category are sales and marketing related expenses, rent and other office related expenses, professional fees, recruiting and training expenses, restructuring charges, litigation and other gains and losses, and goodwill impairment charges. Other operating expenses include depreciation and certain amortization expenses not included in total direct costs.

Segment results

Segment operating income consists of the revenues generated by a segment, less the direct costs of revenue and selling, general, and administrative costs that are incurred directly by the segment. Unallocated corporate costs include costs related to administrative functions that are performed in a centralized manner that are not attributable to a particular segment. These administrative function costs include corporate office support costs, certain office facility costs, costs relating to accounting and finance, human resources, legal, marketing, information technology, and Company-wide business development functions, as well as costs related to overall corporate management.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, selected segment and consolidated operating results and other operating data. Certain amounts reported in the prior year have been reclassified to conform to the new segment structure that was established in the first quarter of 2014 as a result of the reorganization of our internal operating structure. For further information on our segments and the reorganization of our internal operating structure, see Note 16 “Segment Information” within the notes to our consolidated financial statements.

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Non-GAAP Measures

We also assess our results of operations using certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures differ from GAAP because the non-GAAP financial measures we calculate to measure Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), Adjusted net income from continuing operations, and Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations exclude a number of items required by GAAP, each discussed below. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, any measure of performance, cash flows, or liquidity prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures may be defined differently from time to time and may be defined differently than similar terms used by other companies, and accordingly, care should be exercised in understanding how we define our non-GAAP financial measures.

Our management uses the non-GAAP financial measures to gain an understanding of our comparative operating performance, for example when comparing such results with previous periods or forecasts. These non-GAAP financial measures are used by management in their financial and operating decision making because management believes they reflect our ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons. Management also uses these non-GAAP financial measures when publicly providing our business outlook, for internal management purposes, and as a basis for evaluating potential acquisitions and dispositions. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating Huron’s current operating performance and future prospects in the same manner as management does and in comparing in a consistent manner Huron’s current financial results with Huron’s past financial results.

The reconciliations of these financial measures from GAAP to non-GAAP are as follows (in thousands):

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