Pinsent Masons has posted more subdued figures for this financial year, with revenue up 5% from £362.4m to £382.3m and profit per equity partner (PEP) rising 2% from £538,000 to £550,000.
Speaking to Legal Business, senior partner Richard Foley said that the firm had made a lot of investments over the last year, accounting for the lower rise in profits – this year’s Legal Business Law Firm Of The Year was the best performer in the Global 100 last year, with PEP soaring 33% while revenues rose 12%.
‘I don’t think we have had a year where we invested as much as this last year. You make a level of profit and then the choice is what you do with it. You either plough some of it back into your business and it doesn’t appear as profit or you give it to your equity partners.’
Foley (pictured) added: ‘The three offices are included this year, the investment into Cerico is this year, and we have had 23 lateral partner hires. We have invested in IT, we have invested in AI, and we have increased the size of our data analysis and knowledge engineers.’
The last financial year included the firm establishing a presence in Australia, launching two infrastructure sector-focused practices in Melbourne and Sydney last July as well as a second German office in Düsseldorf this January. The energy-focused office in Düsseldorf comprises a four-partner team from KPMG’s legal arm in addition to one partner from Hoffman Liebs Fritsch & Partner and brought the number of partners at Pinsents to over 400.
Last month Legal Business revealed the firm had made a series of changes to its management structure, including the introduction of fixed terms for those in leadership positions, the formation of an operations committee and the cession of decision-making to the board.
Board members, which include both the managing partner and senior partner, will now serve a four-year term, with a maximum of two terms, while group heads and sector heads will serve three-year terms, also for a maximum of two stints. The changes mean senior partner Foley’s current term ends in 2018, while the length of John Cleland’s term as managing partner is currently under review.
Pinsents is the latest in a string of LB 100 firms to post subdued results, with Watson Farley & Williams and RPC both posting single digit revenue growth last week. Meanwhile, Nabarro’s revenue growth has slowed dramatically, as the mid-market firm posted a 3.5% revenue rise to £130.4m, after posting an 8% jump last year.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk
