"We're not trying to be the biggest law firm," says Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick. But the firm's unfettered ascent in recent years tells a different story, with the City outfit now having almost doubled its revenues since 2014 to break the £200m mark for the first time this year.

For Chissick, it is not a quest for world domination that has driven the firm's recent successes, which have seen its top line rise from £104m in 2013-14 to £207m, and the top of its equity reach an eye-watering £3.2m.

Instead, Chissick cites what he describes as a "unique" culture, which he says is built around collaboration, inclusivity, and a keen European focus – rather than just chasing big-ticket mandates.

"We're trying to be a pacy, dynamic and fast-growing law firm. We're not looking to be in the top 10 and we're not looking to be Latham & Watkins' size. We have to be realistic," he says. "We are not trying to do global M&A, and we're not chasing Freshfields' big mandates, but we are chasing high-quality mandates, albeit not the biggest-ticket stuff. And I think we can continue to grow and be more profitable."

This year, revenues rose by 24% and partner profits grew 17% to £750,000 on the back of a sustained period of expansion into new markets across Europe and Asia, including launches in Shanghai and Amsterdam. Key mandates have seen the firm's technology and privacy teams secure lead roles for, among others, the Co-op and Chinese multinational Alibaba.

Chissick is keen to play up what he describes as the firm's "dominance" in the tech space, as well as growth in its key sectors of financial markets, energy and natural resources, as well as life sciences, which was added to the firm's sector focus at the start of the financial year.

However, despite a string of mergers in recent years, including with UK firm Hill Hofstetter in 2016 and a series of tie-ups in Italy, Chissick decisively rules out the possibility a US merger.

"That's not our strategy – we're not interested in any way, shape or form. We don't get the US law firm culture – it wouldn't work for us. We have an office out there in Silicon Valley and we get a lot of work from the US, but there's no reason for us to merge. It's just not on our agenda.

"We have a unique culture here. We offer something which is different. It's a collaborative environment, and I don't think partners want to be managed from the US, or want to do 2,000 hours, or want to have that culture.

"We want people with outside lives who value things like inclusion and looking after their people. It isn't always about the number of hours you bill. US firms – like Latham or McDermott – are great firms with an amazing client base. Fieldfisher is something a bit different. It's a different model here."

And this culture appears to have paid dividends.

"We had a 98% partner retention rate last year – it's why for the last five years we've attracted on average one partner a month laterally, and more than 20 in the last financial year – it's why we're making up a lot of partners internally, it's why our trainee retention rate for the last couple of years has been 100%, and high this year. Success breeds success."

People are turning away from the huge, factory law firms and they're attracted to what we offer

Recent hires for the firm have included former Dentons UK IP head John Linneker and Shepherd and Wedderburn data privacy partner Judy Krieg in London, as well as Slater and Gordon's Manchester clinical negligence head Jenny Urwin.

"Partners want to join a firm that has the attributes of a traditional law firm; collaborative, fun, accessible management, a good place to work that's supportive of its partners," Chissick says.

Without pointing fingers, he adds: "People are turning away from the huge, factory law firms and they're attracted to what we offer – and that seems to be resonating with people."

While growth is always high on the agenda, evidenced by the firm's recent launch of a Belfast legal services centre and an expansion of its Manchester office, Fieldfisher is unlikely to start launching new bases all over the country. 

"We're not trying to be a national law firm," he says. "We're not trying to be Pinsents. There's no appetite for having lots of offices."

The firm is, however, continuing to grow its existing regional UK offices, and Chissick adds that it is looking to build out its bases in the main commercial capitals of Europe, such as Milan, Rome, Brussels and Luxembourg, with "four or five" lateral hires in the pipeline.

So is there anything that can threaten the firm's trajectory? Chissick remains unconcerned by Brexit, instead arguing that the UK's exit from the EU could see the firm thrive.

"Would the firm rather remain? Yes. We're a European law firm and one-third of our turnover is made outside the UK. We're looking to run a fully integrated European law firm – so we'd much rather be in the EU. But there is opportunity for lawyers wherever there's change or new regulation. And we've set the firm up such that if clients need help in say Frankfurt, Amsterdam or Paris, we are there. So I think we will be OK."

He also suggests that the firm's even growth spread across its practices insulates the firm against any shocks.

"We have a nice, naturally hedged business which isn't dominated by any one particular sector," he says. "We have a big practices in disputes, corporate, IP, tech and real estate. None of them account for more than 15% or 20% of our turnover. None overdominates."

He adds: "The legal economy in the UK is huge – it's the largest in Europe. It's a centre for international arbitration, it's the language of choice for legal agreements, for international trade and disputes. That isn't going to go away. It's not anything unique to us, or say Slaughters or Linklaters. I think UK law firms will generally be OK.

"London is an international city, it is a magnet for quality. It has the housing, the infrastructure. And that is still a major pull. That won't stop. The creative cultural hub will continue to be London, because others can't replicate it. It's taken 50-plus years to make London the dominant financial centre it is. It can't be done overnight, or over 10 years – to build that knowhow, that infrastructure, the quality and impartiality of our judiciary – despite certain economies chipping away.

"The EU is an important trading bloc. But it isn't the be-all and end-all. The UK has a very open economy. It's a very entrepreneurial place. The tech sector is thriving, the infrastructure is here and it's accessible."

Chissick suggests that a bigger threat than Brexit  is the rise of the Big Four accounting firms, particularly in light of EY's recent acquisition of alternative legal services provider Riverview Law.

"I see that as a challenge – one for us to watch, particularly given our space in the legal market which they are aggressively attacking, going for the sort of work we go after."

Chissick is also sanguine about the challenges presented by US competitors, as well as the rise of technology such as artificial intelligence.

"We're so differentiated from US law firms, and I'm not too worried about artificial intelligence either, or the disaggregation of legal services. I don't see law firms developing much in the way of proprietary AI, and things like Kira and Luminance are available to everyone. So it's not such a differentiator.

"Lawyering is about relationships, about quality of service, about getting things done for clients and understanding their industry. I think people get overexcited by tech, and forget that clients aren't buying tech solutions, but lawyers who can do the job well – for which the tech is just an enabler."