| Analysis
By Gavriel Hollander | September 1, 2014
More than one in five of the UK's top 50 law firms have seen their fee income grow by at least 50% over the last five years, according to Legal Week's analysis of firms' financial performance
By Georgina Stanley | August 31, 2014
Given the natural conservatism of the legal market both in the UK and globally, when the leader of one of the UK's largest law firms describes the pace of change in the sector as "glacial" it's a definite sign that a dramatic move is long overdue.
By Georgina Stanley | August 31, 2014
Revenue across the UK's 50 largest law firms soared to a new high of £14.4bn in 2013-14, with the group seemingly having put past economic uncertainty behind it to achieve a fourth consecutive year of fee income growth.
By Georgina Stanley | August 31, 2014
Given the natural conservatism of the legal market both in the UK and globally, when the leader of one of the UK's largest law firms describes the pace of change in the sector as "glacial" it's a definite sign that a dramatic move is long overdue.
By Georgina Stanley | August 31, 2014
Revenue across the UK's 50 largest law firms soared to a new high of £14.4bn in 2013-14, with the group seemingly having put past economic uncertainty behind it to achieve a fourth consecutive year of fee income growth.
By Legal Week | August 1, 2013
The UK's top law firms have achieved a third consecutive year of growth despite the continued unsettled economy, with combined revenues for the 50 largest firms forcing their way through the £13bn mark.
By Gerard Starkey | August 1, 2013
Nationally represented law firms have once again outpaced their City counterparts as consolidation among mid-tier firms continues to drive growth. Mergers and acquisitions involving top 50 firms across the UK helped push average revenue growth up to 12.3%, well ahead of the average growth of 6.9% for the top 50 as a whole and also up on last year's average growth of 9.4% for the same group. Expansive DWF posted by far the biggest increase as revenues climbed 84.5% to £188.2m, following a transformative year which included a string of mergers, most notably the February acquisition of Cobbetts – catapulting the firm 15 places up the UK top 50 to 18th.
By Pui-Guan Man | August 1, 2013
Two thirds of firms in the UK top 50 have seen profits per equity partner (PEP) fall over the past five years, according to research compiled by Legal Week. The figures show that only 16 firms in the top 50 have increased PEP since the 2007-08 financial year, compared with more than 30 that have seen profits slide. More than 20 firms have seen PEP fall by over 10% in the five-year period since the height of the credit crunch, with Field Fisher Waterhouse, Speechly Bircham and Trowers & Hamlins all seeing partner profits tumble by more than 40%.
By Anna Reynolds | August 1, 2013
Partner numbers across the UK top 50 have grown almost 7% this year, as a number of significant mergers continue to drive headcount growth at leading law firms. Across the 2012-13 financial year there were an average of 10,115 partners working at the top 50 firms, up 6.9% from 9,458 the previous year. Following a spate of mergers, DWF saw the largest growth in partner numbers across the group, leaping from 152 to 285 over the year as a result of tie-ups with Biggart Baillie, Fishburns and Buller Jeffries as well as taking on a number of partners from now defunct Cobbetts.
By Alex Newman | August 1, 2013
DLA Piper continued to expand its global business at a greater rate than the magic circle last year, according to Legal Week's global rankings, which account for revenues generated across both UK and international profit centres. Combined revenues for DLA's international and US partnerships grew by 9.9% to £1.54bn for 2012, 50.7% of which came from the international partnership, which includes UK revenues. Global lawyer headcount grew 13.9%, while partner numbers fell 2.7%. The results consolidate the firm's status at the pinnacle of the global revenue rankings for UK firms, ahead of second-placed Clifford Chance, which recorded a 2.5% fall in revenue to £1.27bn.
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