White & Case increased its turnover in 2015 by 39% across its UK and Africa offices with figures jumping by £60m to £214.9m. The revenue leap follows a strong 2014 when the firm posted a 12% top line increase.
The firm’s most recent limited liability partnership (LLP) filed at Companies House yesterday (August 15) show operating profit jumped to £88.9m for the year ended 31 December 2015, up from £59.6m in 2014.
The accounts also provide a breakdown of fees derived from limited liability branches based in UK and Africa. UK figures show the region earned £210.7m, another significant leap from £152.45m the year before. The firm posted £4.2m in turnover from Africa, up from £1.9m the year prior.
The report shows that for 2015 the firm had 371 fee earners, up 28% from the year prior, with total staff headcount reaching 600. Accounts show the firm spent £54.5m in wages and salaries, up from £48.4m the year earlier.
Following the announcement of White & Case’s global results for 2015, London executive partner Oliver Brettle said the City office’s figures were ‘strong, and reflect, as you would expect, continued investment.’ The firm posted a 1% increase in global revenues for 2015 to $1.523bn, which followed a 4% rise from 2013 to 2014. PEP came in at $2.02m, up slightly from $2.007m.
A spokesperson said: ‘As a truly global law firm, with lawyers advising clients across borders and jurisdictions, only our global results matter. While we do not announce or discuss financial results from individual offices or regions, London once again made an important contribution during 2015 that had a very positive impact on the firm’s global financial performance.’
Meanwhile, the firm has closed its Almaty office in Kazakhstan. The closure leaves the firm with one office in the country based in the capital Astana.
White & Case has also established a best friend alliance with its Turkish relationship firm Cakmak Avukatlik Burosu in July. The move will allow the Turkish firm to become more independent after it was previously expected to operate like an office of White & Case for internal purposes under its association with the US firm. White & Case also has an association with Istanbul-based Cakmak-Gokce Avukatlik Burosu.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk
