Who Rose? Who Slipped?

The latest edition of the UK Top 50 measures gross revenue, revenue per lawyer, and profits per equity partner,like the Am Law 100, and shows that the UK legal market saw a significant rebound in profitability for top law firms in the latest financial year.

After an 8.1 percent decline in the previous period, the average profit per equity partner (PEP) among the 50 largest UK law firms surged by 12.9 percent to reach £968,600, up from £862,100 last year.

The top 10 firms were –

Without further ado, here are the Top 10 firms in the UK by gross revenue:

1. Clifford Chance: £2,300 million
2. Allen & Overy: £2,200
3. Freshfields: £2,140
4. Linklaters: £2,100
5. CMS: £1,701.9
6. Herbert Smith Freehills: £1,306
7. Eversheds Sutherland: £1,190.5
8. Clyde & Co: £844.4
9. Pinsent Masons: £649.6
10. Slaughter and May: £625

The Rise in PEP

The growth in profits per equity partner rose to an encouraging level with a double-digit rise in numbers, which is now averaging £973,500—a major improvement after the previous year’s 8.1 percent fall.

Those with increases of 20 percent increases included Kennedys, Allen & Overy, Macfarlanes and Charles Russell Speechlys.

Among the lower revenue firms with great PEP were Hill Dickinson and Weightmans, who saw increases of over 40 percent.

The firms that saw some PEP ‘shrinkage’ were CMS, Eversheds and Pinsent Masons all saw slight PEP shrinkage on last year.