The Client’s View on DLA Piper – how do your lawyers score?

The Client’s View on DLA Piper – how do your lawyers score?

What do clients really think about the service they get from your firm? Every year, the Legal 500 asks hundreds of thousands of clients how they rate firms on a range of metrics, including lawyers and team quality, value, billing, and industry knowledge.

The scores we collect allow us to benchmark firms against each other – this article looks at how DLA compares to its peers for lawyers and team quality.

How DLA compares to the Global 100 for lawyer and team quality

The graph below shows all scores for the Global 100 firms – the green dots representing firms which score above average for lawyers and team quality, and the red dots below. DLA’s score of 79.52 sits below the Global 100 average of 81.97.


DLA Piper


Lawyers and
Team Quality

79.52


Quality of partners 82.29


Quality of associates 74.80


Partner availability and engagement 81.87


All scores are global and /100.

The client scoring data also shows how DLA Piper rates in comparison to its competitor firms for quality of partners, quality of associates, and partner availability and engagement, among many other key metrics.

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Rating the lawyers – what the data tells us about Clifford Chance

Rating the lawyers – what the data tells us about Clifford Chance

How do your clients rate the service they receive from your firm? Every year, we ask hundreds of thousands of clients to score firms on metrics such as lawyer quality, billing, communication and expertise, as part of the Legal 500 research. As well as providing insight on each firm, this means we can also benchmark firms against each other.

Lawyers and team quality – how does CC score?

Clifford Chance scores 80.94 for lawyers and team quality – as illustrated below, that score is 1.03% below the average for Global 100 firms; better than DLA’s score, but below Linklaters. Conversely, Herbert Smith Freehills scores 0.33% above the average.

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LB322 – issue menu

LB322 – issue menu

Access your pdf edition of LB magazine – issue 322

Access Legal Business 322 via online pdf.

The customer is always right – which firms do clients rate most highly?

The data doesn’t lie – it’s been a good year for the Global 100. 88 of the world’s largest firms posted revenue increases last year, with many enjoying record results, and total revenue across the group rose by more than 6% to break through the $150bn mark for the first time.

Footing the bill – as chargeout rates spiral, will clients put their foot down?

Another stellar performance by the Global 100 saw total revenue climbed by 6% and average PEP increased by almost double this figure, despite decidedly less than buoyant deal markets.

Smaller footprint, bigger ambition: A&O and Hogan Lovells office cuts underline global pressure on profits

As firms grapple with what it means to be global, while also managing intense pressure on costs, the question of whether less profitable international offices are still a justifiable expense is rising up the agenda for many.

Just how global is the Global 100?

LB looks beyond revenue to find some true global leaders

Global 100 Overview: G100 defy gloom to pass $150bn

While last year saw the Global 100 struggling against market headwinds, this year finds firms in much ruder health. But with transactional markets yet to make a full recovery, the legal sector could not rely on big deals alone – LB reports on how the world’s largest law firms beat the odds to hit new heights

Global 100 2024: Main table

Key financials for the top 100 firms

Late bloomer: how Paul Weiss made up for lost time on the global stage

In a year of standout performances, Paul Weiss has made more headlines than most with a new international strategy that has shaken up the market, as LB reports.

Laws of attraction – how elite firms are ramping up their talent retention tactics

With the battle to recruit and retain star partners becoming ever more intense, the world’s top firms are going to new lengths to fend off the competition. From partnership and lockstep shakeups to spiralling pay packages, LB looks at the measures elite firms are taking to keep rivals at bay.

Global 100: Methodology

The firms that appear in the 2024 Global 100 are the largest 100 law firms in the world ranked by revenue.

Life During Law: Penny Angell

‘At my core, I love deals’ – Hogan Lovells’ Penny Angell on life and career soulmates, deals and being forced to choose between beer and shoes.

Life During Law: Simon Levine

‘Running a law firm is a lot like running a mafia crew — without the killing.’ LB speaks to DLA Piper’s global co-CEO about what it’s really like to run a law firm.

Life After Law: Roger Barron

Roger Barron speaks to LB about what’s next after leaving full-time law.

Pinsents, CC and HSF among big winners as new Legal 500 UK rankings are revealed

Legal Business Awards 2024

Freeths, Freshfields and Vodafone take top prizes at Legal Business Awards 2024

Glasses half full

LB finds out what’s keeping Dublin’s top law firms busy

Last Word

As part of our Global 100 survey, top lawyers share their thoughts on the global market

Laws of attraction – how elite firms are ramping up their talent retention tactics

Laws of attraction – how elite firms are ramping up their talent retention tactics

‘There’s a bunch of defensive mechanisms firms are using to shore up their stars – they could be lost to Paul Weiss or some other big firm if they don’t do something,’ says one US partner of the fierce war for talent at the very top of the legal market.

Continue reading “Laws of attraction – how elite firms are ramping up their talent retention tactics”

Just how global is the Global 100? LB looks beyond revenue to find some true global leaders

Just how global is the Global 100? LB looks beyond revenue to find some true global leaders

What does it take to be part of the global elite? When Legal Business unveiled the very first iteration of its ‘global elite’ back in 2003, 15 firms made the grade, of which six were headquartered in the UK.

They were selected based on criteria including: being a leader in their home jurisdiction in at least two of the three key practice areas of finance, M&A and litigation; being one of the 50 most profitable firms in the world; and being a leader in M&A or banking on both sides of the Atlantic.

But with law firms expanding rapidly around the world in the time since that first elite was created, the metrics they should be assessed on have come under increasing scrutiny.

Should the measure of success be firmwide revenue, international revenue, profitability, headcount or perhaps geographic spread? Or should the true global elite simply be a list of the very best law firms in the world? In which case, the likes of Slaughter and May and Wachtell would make the grade despite a decided lack of international reach.

Twenty-one years after that first 15-firm group was drawn up, despite having more data available to us than ever before, it is perhaps less clear now who should and shouldn’t be included in a global elite than it was then.

The Global 100 ranking in this issue is a prime example. US firms make up roughly 70% of the biggest firms in the world by revenue; while there are fewer than 20 UK or equal UK/US heritage firms in the list. And the sheer size of the US legal market means that its domination over UK and international firms only increases year on year.

Similarly, the difference in approach towards global expansion (with UK firms generally having larger numbers of lawyers in more international locations than their US peers) means the profitability gap also continues to grow.

But, despite their strong financial performance, many of the US firms in the global elite lack any significant international footprint, which inevitably means that our Global 100 rankings are not really as globally-focused as they should be.

So we have decided to go back to basics, and revisit the questions of what it really means to be global, and what it really means to be elite.

Thinking global

Ask managing partners what global means and responses inevitably differ depending on the profile of the firm.

For Justin D’Agostino, global CEO of Herbert Smith Freehills: ‘It’s the quality of clients, the quality of the work you’re doing for them, and the quality of your talent. You also need geographic reach in the major markets of the world. It’s about strength, profitability, and sufficient scale.’

Simon Levine, DLA’s global co-CEO and international managing partner, says being truly global is about being able to offer the biggest corporates in the world the full breadth of services – from life sciences, to disputes, to regulatory advice – across multiple jurisdictions.

He asks: ‘When major global organisations – like Unilever, GE, or HSBC – require critical global services such as restructuring, dispute resolution, or regulatory advice, do they need to turn to multiple firms, or can one firm manage everything?’ In his view: ‘Simply focusing on corporate, M&A, PE, and litigation isn’t enough.’

On the other hand, one London head at an elite US firm counters: ‘I don’t think just being big makes you global. It’s about which markets you’re deep in, combined with an element of profitability’.

The US conundrum

What everyone – including LB – is in agreement on is that being truly global requires a presence in the key financial centres around the world. That means London, the US, and major financial centres across Asia Pacific and EMEA such as Hong Kong and Frankfurt.

Here then, we’re presenting some new options for what it really means to be a globally elite firm by revisiting some of those 2003 criteria and combining them with definitive insight from our Legal 500 rankings.

Where UK and UK-heritage firms fare best is strong global coverage, as evidenced by their L500 rankings.

If we look at the global 100 firms by total number of L500 rankings worldwide, our top ten firms comprise: DLA Piper, Baker McKenzie, CMS, A&O Shearman, Dentons, Eversheds Sutherland, Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells, White & Case and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Look at the best-performing global 100 firms by total number of top-tier Legal 500 rankings worldwide and the picture shifts slightly, but UK and UK-heritage firms still come out on top, with Bakers, A&O Shearman, CC, DLA Piper, CMS, Linklaters, Latham, Dentons, HSF and Pinsents making the grade.

But while UK-heritage firms are strong across key financial centres such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Frankfurt, to be truly global firms have to have a solid presence in all four L500 regions: UK, EMEA, APAC and the US.

Making this a prerequisite for inclusion in a global elite proves to be almost as big a blocker for many UK-heritage firms today as it was in 2003 – but with a bigger profitability gap to navigate to fix the problem. For example, of those leading firms by T1 rankings, CMS, HSF, Linklaters and Pinsents all lack any T1 rankings in the US.

As D’Agostino admits: ‘the quality of [UK firms’] client base and our scale in major markets is still a force to be reckoned with, but all of us are focused on the US market and how to scale up.’

Duncan Weston, executive partner at CMS, comments: ‘Many law firms like to call themselves global, but they’re not. We don’t claim to be truly global yet, though we have those aspirations,’ he admits, pointing to CMS’s gaps in key markets like Asia and the US. Of course, T1 or not, not all L500 rankings are created equal. Echoing the approach LB took back in 2003, for elite status, let’s now consider only firms with at least one ‘prime’ L500 ranking (corporate/M&A, litigation, banking and finance) in major markets across all four core geographies – Asia Pacific, EMEA, the US and the UK. Again, UK-heritage firms still fare pretty well, with A&O Shearman, CC, DLA Piper, Linklaters, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright and polycentric Dentons all making the cut.

But now let’s add one of those other 2003 criteria: in addition to being global we want our list to be elite. So, for this, let’s add in the same profitability filter applied in 2003 –considering only the 50 most profitable global 100 firms.

Removing firms in the bottom half of the profitability table equates to a cut-off point of $2.38m based on this year’s financial results, meaning large but less profitable players like Bakers and Norton Rose Fulbright fall out.

So what are we left with? In total we end up with a list of around 20 firms, with UK or UK-heritage firms making up around six of the top ten by total ranking numbers (see tables below).

Of course, some may query the value placed on an EMEA and APAC presence – particularly given current scrutiny over whether a huge global footprint is as important as it once was. And others may query taking a volume-based approach to rankings.

But a true global elite needs to be made up of firms with broader horizons than just the US firms which make up so much of the Global 100. Otherwise it’s just a US elite.

Georgina Stanley and Anna Huntley

Global 100 firms with the most prime* L500 rankings across APAC, EMEA, UK and US (top 50 for PEP only)

Firm APAC EMEA UK US Total
A&O Shearman 20 49 25 23 117
Clifford Chance 16 46 16 14 92
DLA Piper 14 49 14 15 92
White & Case 14 38 17 20 89
Latham & Watkins 13 24 15 27 79
Linklaters 11 43 17 5 76
Hogan Lovells 10 37 17 10 74
Freshfields 8 28 14 11 61
Mayer Brown 8 8 15 25 56
Skadden 11 5 10 25 51

Global 100 firms with the most T1 prime* l500 rankings across APAC, EMEA, UK and US (top 50 for PEP only)

Firm APAC EMEA UK US Total
A&O Shearman 9 24 19 1 53
Clifford Chance 7 26 15 0 48
Latham & Watkins 3 8 6 21 38
Linklaters 6 17 11 0 34
Kirkland & Ellis 4 2 4 9 19
White & Case 3 9 4 2 18
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett 2 0 1 15 18
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton 1 3 0 10 14
Freshfields 2 7 4 0 13
Davis Polk & Wardwell 1 0 0 12 13

* Prime = at least one core M&A/banking/litigation ranking

Global 100 Overview: G100 defy gloom to pass $150bn

Global 100 Overview: G100 defy gloom to pass $150bn

‘It looked like we were in for a rough time – but the markets stood up well.’ DLA Piper global co-chief executive Simon Levine’s take on the financial year neatly sums up the overriding sentiment about the year gone by, which started with much-cited concerns over inflation and global instability, but ended with law firm leaders much happier than expected.

After total revenue across the world’s 100 largest law firms inched up by just 1% last year, this year the group broke through the $150bn mark for the first time, with combined income rising by more than 6% to $158.7bn. The increase in average profit per equity partner (PEP) across the group was even more impressive – up over 11% to $2.8m, bouncing back from a 3% decrease last year.

Continue reading “Global 100 Overview: G100 defy gloom to pass $150bn”

Hogan Lovells: The Client’s View

Hogan Lovells: The Client’s View

Hogan Lovells


Lawyers and
Team Quality

81.20


Quality of partners 84.08


Quality of associates 76.19


Partner availability and engagement 83.46


All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which Hogan Lovells scores 81.20. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users onlyIf you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “Hogan Lovells: The Client’s View”

Ashurst: The Client’s View

Ashurst: The Client’s View

Ashurst


Lawyers and
Team Quality

79.59


Quality of partners 83.47


Quality of associates 75.76


Partner availability and engagement 83.18


All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which Ashurst scores 79.59. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users onlyIf you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “Ashurst: The Client’s View”