Bond Dickinson has posted flat turnover for 2016/17 of £104m, while profit per equity partner (PEP) has slipped 4% from £275,000 to £265,000.
Meanwhile, profit per lawyer at the firm is up 2% to £38,000, albeit against a 7% fall in total lawyer headcount to 478. Equity partner numbers at the firm have increased by two to 68, explaining the fall in PEP.
Speaking to Legal Business, Bond Dickinson’s managing partner Jonathan Blair (pictured) said it had been a good year for a number of different business groups, particularly private wealth.
‘Private wealth saw a very strong performance last year. Dispute resolution was okay, real estate was good. Corporate and commercial was steady – we saw a dip in M&A activity in the run-up to Brexit and it was a few months before that started coming back, but that came back quite strongly.’
Key client wins for the firm over the last year have included CCS, AIG, Crown Estate and Lloyds Banking Group.
The 2016/17 financials do not account for the tie-up earlier this year with US firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, which will go live on 1 October. The combination will create a new transatlantic law firm and UK top 20 firm with £340m in combined revenues.
The new combined entity, which will be structured as a company limited by guarantee, will not financially integrate the two firms, although will be a shared ‘pot’ for any integration costs incurred as well as a possibility of a future shared pot to reward collaboration and team work.
The last year also saw Bond Dickinson expand its presence in Scotland with a second office in Edinburgh focusing on energy, financial institutions and real estate. The firm already has an office in Aberdeen which is focused on oil and gas.
