LB100 – Overview: Here comes the rain again

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LB100 – Overview: Here comes the rain again

Last year’s LB100 report saw firm leaders bullish, overwhelmingly characterising a boom market, even as macroeconomic indicators had started to flash warning signs.

This year, it seems, some of the confidence of stellar recent years has finally started to dwindle. Revenue has continued to grow, though at a slightly slower rate: with turnover up on average 8% across the LB100 table, to a total of £33.77bn. For context, this is one percentage point less than the 9% increase in the group’s top line to £31.35bn recorded in 2022. Continue reading “LB100 – Overview: Here comes the rain again”

LB100 – The second 25: Riders of the storm

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LB100 – The second 25: Riders of the storm

It has been another muted performance from the second 25, typically the strongest-performing group in the LB100 historically. Average revenue may be up 8% to £180.4m – in line with the LB100 as a whole – but revenue per lawyer (RPL) stayed flat at £289,000. Profit per lawyer (PPL) barely moved at £74,000 and neither did profit per equity partner (PEP), which more or less held steady at £629,000.

However, this performance is broadly in line with the other two groups in the LB100, where average RPL, PPL and PEP have barely moved either way. Continue reading “LB100 – The second 25: Riders of the storm”

LB100 – The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?

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LB100 – The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?

This year, 24 London-headquartered and boutique firms can be found in the second half of the LB100, experiencing an average revenue of £57.3m from last year’s £53.4m. This 7% increase almost matches the average revenue growth experienced by the firms across the entire LB100.

Taking a closer look at the breakdowns of the group’s performance tells us that in FY22/23, the average number of lawyers among the City and boutique firms is up by 16% from last year to 207 from 179. However, profit per lawyer for the group is up 4% to reach 2021 levels at £85,000. Continue reading “LB100 – The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?”

LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

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LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

The 26 regional and national firms occupying the 51-100 places in this year’s LB100 come in with an average of 269 lawyers and 33 equity partners, a slight increase on last year. Average revenue increased 5% to £57.5m, three percentage points below the growth rate of the LB100 as a whole. This mirrors last year, where average revenue only increased by 4%, a departure from the 11% and 13% growth rates seen in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

More significantly, our 2023 report also sees a sharp decline in profit per equity (PEP) by 14% to £345,000, in a stark contrast to the 14% growth rate last year and a much heavier dip than that experienced by the LB100 at large. Continue reading “LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together”

Social media influencers: Social circles

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Social media influencers: Social circles

Back in the spring, Legal Business asked whether a professional social media presence is now a ‘must-have’ for the modern lawyer, in a feature which also acknowledged that ‘what is trending one week can be quickly forgotten the next’.

And while the post-Covid return to the office has since gathered pace, lawyers’ love for LinkedIn shows no sign of slowing up. Autumn is of course the season when the platform comes alive with the hum of humbled and delighted lawyers posting their Legal 500 endorsements, a process which is now more compulsory than ever (not least due to the requirement to make your charitable #humblebrag donation to Save The Children – get involved if you haven’t done so yet). Continue reading “Social media influencers: Social circles”

Social mobility: An invisible problem

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Social mobility: An invisible problem

‘We have yet to make significant strides in fostering systemic change for social mobility. Our focus around diversity and inclusion has only been for the past 15 to 20 years, while the legal industry has a history spanning hundreds of years. So, when we gauge the progress made in proportion to this vast timeline, it becomes evident that there is still much ground to cover. Nevertheless, the industry has made commendable strides in a relatively short span, and I believe it can continue its journey towards greater equity with increased support, more allies, and greater investment,’ muses Akil Hunte, a former CMS trainee and current chair of NRG Lawyers, an organisation that helps non-Russell Group students into the legal profession.

Despite the plethora of initiatives seeking to solve social mobility in the legal profession, the underlying statistics remain unpromising. According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), 22% of all lawyers attend a fee-paying school compared to just 7.5% of the general population. While lawyers from a lower-socioeconomic background make up just 17% of the workforce, contrasted to 39% of the national population. Continue reading “Social mobility: An invisible problem”

LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites

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LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites

Having achieved a steady rise in revenue over the past five years, can Eversheds Sutherland maintain its place in the top ten of the LB100?

‘I can’t think of a soundbite for the firm,’ dismisses one finance head at a peer firm when canvassed for his view on Eversheds Sutherland’s place in the market. Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites”

LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots

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LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots

With mergers and performance across the pond enduringly hot topics in this year’s LB100 report, LB checked in with Womble Bond Dickinson to see how the firm has performed since it became a transatlantic law firm, and how its strategy looks after its tie-up talks with BDB Pitmans fell through

‘They were the right discussions to have,’ says Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) managing partner Paul Stewart (pictured) of the talks with Pitmans. ‘But law firm mergers are not easy things to do. I wouldn’t rule anything out, but there’s certainly nothing I would talk about at the moment in terms of that kind of transactional activity.’ Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots”