Litigation and high net clients help Mishcons' ambitions to extend beyond the West End

As befits a firm acting for fashion houses such as Gucci or Christian Louboutin, there has always been something just a little bit flash about Mishcon de Reya. But even by those standards, its achievement this year of hiking revenues by 30% is eye-catching.

Revenues hit £61.5m for 2010-11, up from £47.5m the previous year, while profits have also jumped to an estimated £575,000 against £450,000 in 2010. Certainly, very few major law firms have ever managed that kind of annual growth without the aid of a sizeable merger.

"Good work breeds good work," says Mishcons managing partner Kevin Gold (pictured). Indeed, the firm has picked up some sizeable mandates over the last year including a $125m (£76m) class action copyright infringement suit against Google, where the firm acted for the American Society of Media Photographers and related trade associations, photographers and illustrators.

Meanwhile, recent new clients include Bank of Singapore, BMW and Capital & Counties Properties, adding to a portfolio that boasts Capita Group, Microsoft and Peugeot among its top clients. "Five years ago we looked at our practices and how we could structure ourselves better. We adopted the mantra that 'best is best' – if you can't be the best in something, don't do it," says Gold.

To this end, the firm restructured its practice areas, growing from four to six. In a related venture the firm created the umbrella brand Mishcon Private in April 2010, through which it badges and promotes a wide variety of legal services aimed at high net individuals, covering areas as broad as reputation management, family disputes and art law.

The firm also created a separate employment practice. The strong litigation and private client focus looks to have played well for the firm, with work in these two areas now accounting for nearly 50% of its revenues, even without including its family practice.

"We have seen particular growth in the number of Russian and former Soviet Republic clients coming to us to litigate, as London has increasingly become a major dispute resolution centre of choice. We are finding ourselves constantly fighting claims for high net worth individuals who are not dissimilar to conglomerates in their own right," says Mishcons head of dispute resolution Kasra Nouroozi. This dynamic explains the firm's catchy slogan, 'It's business. But it's personal'.

And if the firm's practice mix helped its progress, Mishcons also gambled on targeted expansion, with partners agreeing to take home a lower profit distribution last year to fund growth. This investment has seen the hire of 10 new partners across the year from a range of firms such as Charles Russell, Reed Smith and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. The firm has also bulked up its corporate and real estate capabilities at a time when others have been trimming down.

Mishcons executive partner and head of Mishcon Private James Libson says: "Part of the strategy was to go and get people who we might not have normally attracted, which would and has in turn created a virtuous cycle of more work and a larger market share.

"If people can see that your ambition is being met with results, they are more likely to want to join you, and the cycle continues…" Reflecting that sentiment, Mishcons is forecasting further growth of around 20% next year to hit a target of £71.5m in turnover, marking the second stage of its three-year plan to achieve revenues of £80m and see partner profits hit £750,000 by 2013. Achieving that really would be a sparkling performance.