Hugh Verrier’s term as White & Case chair will extend to 16 years after he was re-elected for another four years.
First elected to the helm in 2007, he will start his next stint in September, running until 2023. New York-based Verrier’s tenure has seen successive years of expansion recently, most notably in its London office. The firm declined to comment on whether the election was contested.
The City office was responsible for 17% of firm-wide revenue in the 2018/19 financial year, having increased 7% to $350m. Firm-wide revenue rose 14% to break the $2bn mark at $2.05bn, while profit per equity partner (PEP) grew 6% to $2.40m and revenue per lawyer increased by 8% to reach $954,000.
The 2018 results perpetuated a blistering run for the firm, building on the previous year’s 13% uptick in City revenue while firm-wide revenue saw a pacey 10% increase to $1.8bn in 2017. PEP rose more than 6% to $2.4m and equity partner headcount globally rose by more than 7% to 342 from last year’s 319.
White & Case in 2018 proved itself to be something of a hiring whirlwind in the City having gone great guns with its NY-London focus and ambitions to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with the Magic Circle in London as part of a 2020 plan led by Brettle.
The firm also made up the most London partners of all the US firms in London last year, promoting 13 to the partnership as part of its largest ever promotion round, in which 41 lawyers were minted globally.
The promotion round, effective from January, represented a 32% increase on last year, when 31 were minted. London sees 13 promotions, up from seven last year, and ahead of the 12 in the US. The overall round is one up on the firm’s previous record of 40 two years ago.
For more on the unlikely revolution of White & Case, read Reborn Supremacy.
