The firms that appear in the 2019 Global 100 are the largest 100 law firms in the world ranked by revenue.
Financial year end
Financial data shown is for the last financial year – either calendar year 2018 or 2018/19. Financial years differ – most end in December in the US and in April in the UK.
Legal Business takes the compilation of the Global 100 very seriously. We make every effort to ensure that the figures we publish are accurate and precise.
The overwhelming majority of firms co-operate fully with us in this regard by providing us with the required information. Some firms choose not to co-operate officially with our data collection process and in these circumstances we rely on figures from trusted but anonymous sources. For verein firms, Dentons and King & Wood Mallesons, and Chinese firm Yingke, which do not provide global profit figures, no estimates have been made. Average Global 100 year-on-year profit calculations have been made excluding these firms.
Firms with a † symbol next to their name chose not to provide any financial information.
Definitions
Turnover/revenue
Revenue figures do not include VAT, disbursements, interest or anything other than the worldwide fees generated by lawyers for their work during the last financial year.
Headcount
Total lawyer numbers include partners, trainees, assistants, associates, of counsel and all other fully qualified lawyers, but do not include legal executives, paralegals or other support staff. Reflecting standard reporting practice in the US, firms have been asked for full-time equivalent lawyers over the financial year.
Equity partners
We define full-equity partners as partners that are full participants in the firm’s profits.
Non-equity partners
Non-equity partners, be they fixed-share equity, salaried, or laterals on probationary periods, are those who are not full participants in the firm’s profits, though they may have voting rights.
Net income
We define net income as the total profit available to be shared among full-equity partners. We treat profit sharing with non-equity partners as an expense and it is therefore not included in the net income figure.
Profit per equity partner (PEP)
We calculate PEP by dividing net income by the number of full-equity partners over the year.
Revenue per lawyer (RPL) and profit per lawyer (PPL)
RPL is calculated by dividing turnover by the total number of lawyers. PPL is calculated by dividing net income by the total number of lawyers.
Profit margin
Profit margin is net income as a percentage of turnover.
Turnover change 2014-19
This figure is a straight percentage increase in revenue between the 2014 Global 100 report and the 2019 Global 100 report.
Exchange rates
We have used annual average exchange rates for 2018 given by the US Federal Reserve for any currency conversions.
- £1 equals $1.3363
- €1 equals $1.1817
- $1 equals ¥6.6090
All year-on-year and five-year revenue and profitability percentage changes are based on figures reported in dollars for the relevant years, which may not be an accurate reflection of how a firm has performed in its home currency during the same period.
Footnotes
1. Baker McKenzie has a different year end to most Global 100 firms. Figures included here apply to the year ending 30 June 2018.
2. UK headquartered firms – At the time of going to press, these firms had not finalised and audited their LLP accounts and these figures are subject to fluctuation. See the Legal Business 100 in September for the precise figures in home currency and year-on-year percentage changes.
3. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner – In April 2018, Bryan Cave merged with Berwin Leighton Paisner. The combined firm is represented here and year-on-year comparisons are not included in the main table.
4. Foley & Lardner – On 1 April 2018, Foley & Lardner and Gardere Wynne Sewell combined. As such, year-on-year comparisons are not included.
5. Hunton Andrews Kurth – In April 2018, Andrews Kurth Kenyon and Hunton & Williams merged to form Hunton Andrews Kurth. The combined firm is represented here and year-on-year comparisons are not included in the main table.
6. Yingke – China firm Yingke is included in our main table for revenue, but no profit data was supplied. Given the distorting nature of its 7,103 lawyer headcount, Yingke is not included in overall calculations for average RPL, PPL and PEP in the Global 100.
7. Womble Bond Dickinson – On 1 November 2017, UK-based Bond Dickinson and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice combined to create Womble Bond Dickinson. As a new entrant to the Global 100, year-on-year financial comparisons are not included in the table.