Global 100: Ten-year view – Playing the long game

The contrast between the Global 100 reports in 2012 and 2022 is startling: in 2012 the global elite was feeling the pinch with transactional markets stagnant in the wake of the global financial crisis a few years before. For the 63 firms that appeared in both years’ reports – unchanged by significant merger activity between those dates – 2012 was marked by single-digit rises in revenue, profits and lawyer numbers at the top 100 firms. With inflation running at around 3% in the UK and US then, performance in real terms was even more muted than the top-line figures suggested – it was essentially a flat year for many, set against the backdrop of shock and awe that came from Dewey & LeBoeuf filing for bankruptcy in May 2012 that gave many law firm leaders pause. Just five firms had gross revenues of $2bn or more, while only the top 23 firms in the table turned over more than $1bn. Five-year growth for Global 100 firms following the boom of 2007, was pedestrian – at best.