LB311 – issue menu
Access your print copy online – LB311
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Global 100 2022 – contents
Global 100 overview: Playing a blinder
In Legal Business’ Global 100 report last year, firms obliterated gloomy predictions to post overwhelmingly positive results, defying fears of the worst economic crisis for more than a decade laying just around the corner.
Across key metrics, the global elite had plenty of reasons to be positive in 2020/21. Gross revenue was up 7% to $128.13bn, but it was the profitability of the top 100 firms that really stood out: $46.98bn, a striking increase of 14% year-on-year. Average profit per equity partner (PEP) at a Global 100 firm shot up 11% to hit the $2m mark; while profit per lawyer (PPL) grew 9% to $360,000. Continue reading “Global 100 overview: Playing a blinder”
Global 100: Swiss Vereins – Capture the flag
What do FIFA and several of the world’s largest law firms by revenue have in common? Write your own punchline, but the correct answer here is the Swiss Verein model. Continue reading “Global 100: Swiss Vereins – Capture the flag”
Global 100: Slaughter and May – Keeping the magic alive
‘It’s a remarkable firm with a tremendous reputation, but it has to take note of the fact that the market is changing.’ So says one transatlantic law firm leader, summarising a view that has chimed throughout Legal Business’ numerous Global 100 interviews.
Arguably the most conservative of the City elite, Slaughter and May has long won plaudits for steadfastness, staying true to its London heartland of advising FTSE 100 and 350 clients, even as peers struck out to follow transatlantic ambitions. As the pace of change in the market amid globalisation and intense competition reaches giddying speeds, many commentators question whether the stalwart’s approach is underpinned by justified confidence or hubris. Continue reading “Global 100: Slaughter and May – Keeping the magic alive”
Global 100: Ten-year view – Playing the long game
The contrast between the Global 100 reports in 2012 and 2022 is startling: in 2012 the global elite was feeling the pinch with transactional markets stagnant in the wake of the global financial crisis a few years before. For the 63 firms that appeared in both years’ reports – unchanged by significant merger activity between those dates – 2012 was marked by single-digit rises in revenue, profits and lawyer numbers at the top 100 firms. With inflation running at around 3% in the UK and US then, performance in real terms was even more muted than the top-line figures suggested – it was essentially a flat year for many, set against the backdrop of shock and awe that came from Dewey & LeBoeuf filing for bankruptcy in May 2012 that gave many law firm leaders pause. Just five firms had gross revenues of $2bn or more, while only the top 23 firms in the table turned over more than $1bn. Five-year growth for Global 100 firms following the boom of 2007, was pedestrian – at best.
Continue reading “Global 100: Ten-year view – Playing the long game”
Global 100 – Stories of the year
Despite the Russia/Ukraine war fuelling concerns, firms still found time to make strategic hires, open new offices and become embroiled in the odd scandal. Here are the headline stories of the last 12 months.