‘Holding ourselves accountable’: Slaughter and May tackles social mobility challenge with 2033 targets

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Social diversity Slaughter and May
‘Holding ourselves accountable’: Slaughter and May tackles social mobility challenge with 2033 targets

Slaughter and May has stuck its head above the parapet on the thorny issue of social mobility, outlining ambitious targets for 2033, in what will be seen as a bold move at the elite end of the profession.

Over the next decade the firm aims to increase its representation of individuals from a lower socio-economic background (LSEB) by 25% across its total workforce population from a baseline of 18.8%. Broken down across fee earners and business services professionals, Slaughters intends to increase its lawyer population from such backgrounds to 15% from a baseline of 10% and its business services population to 40% from a baseline of 34.7%. These targets measure a person’s socio-economic background by using parental occupation at the age of 14 as a metric.

‘We are on the right course’: Fieldfisher sees double-digit revenue jump as PEP falls by same percentage

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Financial results 2022/23 Fieldfisher
‘We are on the right course’: Fieldfisher sees double-digit revenue jump as PEP falls by same percentage

Fieldfisher has reported an 11% rise in firm-wide revenue to £370m from £330m, marking ten years of consecutive revenue growth for the firm. However, profit per equity partner (PEP) fell 11% to £930,000 from £1.05m in the previous financial year.

Broken down geographically,  the firm recorded a 9% rise in revenue at its London office, a 12% rise in revenue at its Birmingham office and a 13% rise in revenue at its Manchester office. In Europe, the firm recorded a 22% rise at its German office, a 20% rise at its Belgium office, a 9% rise at its Ireland office, and an 8% rise at its French office.

Linklaters sees 2% profit decline as revenue falls short of the £2bn milestone

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Financial results 2022/23 Linklaters
Linklaters sees 2% profit decline as revenue falls short of the £2bn milestone

With financial reporting season in full swing, Linklaters is the latest Magic Circle firm to drop its financial results, reporting a 7% revenue increase from £1.8bn to £1.9bn, seeing it fall just short of the $2bn turnover barrier passed by both Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance recently.

Pre-tax profit is down by 2% to £854m from last year’s £872m, translating to a 5% decline in PEP from £1.87m to £1.78m.

‘Outcome still satisfactory’: revenue, profit and PEP drop at Macfarlanes as Mishcon continues growth

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Financial Results 2021/22 MacfarlanesMishcon de Reya
‘Outcome still satisfactory’: revenue, profit and PEP drop at Macfarlanes as Mishcon continues growth

Macfarlanes has today (24 July) posted results that show declines in turnover, profit, and PEP for the past financial year. Turnover dropped 2% to £296.6m, while operating profit fell 6% to £151.4m. The decline in PEP was steepest: a fall of 16% took it to £2.1m.

The results mean an end to a  12-year streak of growth that saw its PEP surge past its rivals, with last year’s £2.49m placing it behind just Slaughter and May and Stewarts in the list of firms with the fastest-growing PEP in our 2022 LB100.

‘Improving growth has not been an easy task’: HSF posts record financials amid challenging conditions

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Financial results 2022/23 Herbert Smith Freehills
‘Improving growth has not been an easy task’: HSF posts record financials amid challenging conditions

Herbert Smith Freehills has marked a decade of consecutive annual growth with its latest financial results, posting the highest revenue, profit and PEP in the firm’s history.

Revenue has increased by 8% from £1.103bn to £1.186bn, while net profit and PEP are up by a more modest 2% and 1% respectively. PEP moved from £1,163,000 to £1,173,000 for 2022/23.

‘Pleased to have continued our upward trajectory’: Shoosmiths continues revenue and profit growth

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Financial results 2022/23 Shoosmiths
‘Pleased to have continued our upward trajectory’: Shoosmiths continues revenue and profit growth

Legal Business Law Firm of the Year Shoosmiths has today (19 July) reported another year of growth, with a 7% rise in revenue taking the firm’s turnover to £194.1m following last year’s 8% increase.

Profitability was also up by 3%, hitting £62.7m, while profit per equity partner (PEP) PEP nudged up by £1,000 to £676,000.

These growth rates are down on last year when profits rose by 9% and PEP by 3%. But the firm was nonetheless positive. ‘It’s been a challenging environment for all businesses’, said chief executive David Jackson. ‘To have produced these results at a time of such turbulence is pretty impressive. We’re pleased to have continued our upward trajectory.

Mixed bag for Clifford Chance as it joins the £2bn revenue club but profits and PEP stall

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Financial results 2022/23 Clifford Chance
Mixed bag for Clifford Chance as it joins the £2bn revenue club but profits and PEP stall

Clifford Chance (CC) today (19 July) became the second Magic Circle firm to post revenues in excess of £2bn after Allen & Overy achieved that milestone last week.

CC’s headline turnover figure of £2.062bn showed an increase of 5% on last year’s £1.969bn, and marks the eighth consecutive year of revenue growth for the firm.

Revolving Doors: Lateral market continues apace as private equity and regulatory dominate in the City

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Revolving doors
Revolving Doors: Lateral market continues apace as private equity and regulatory dominate in the City

Leading the moves this week, Goodwin has hired McDermott partner Arvin Abraham for its private equity practice in London. He brings with him experience advising on transactions for private equity sponsors, venture capital funds and strategic investors, mainly in the fintech, healthcare and life sciences sectors.

Speaking to Legal Business about why he decided to move, Abraham said: ‘Partly due to several overlapping client relationships and synergies. But, equally so for the firm’s collaborative culture and demonstrated strengths in each of my areas of focus. I can’t think of a firm that better combines expertise in private equity and venture capital transactions and sector specialism in fintech, healthcare and so much more.’

A&O managing partner Price departs pre-merger as revenue passes £2bn

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Leadership Allen & Overy
A&O managing partner Price departs pre-merger as revenue passes £2bn

Allen & Overy today (13 July) announced the shock resignation of managing partner Gareth Price amid a set of financial results that saw the Magic Circle firm break £2bn in revenue for the first time.

The firm said Price’s resignation was due to ‘personal reasons’ and came as revenue jumped nearly 8% from £1.94bn last year to £2.1bn in 2022/23. While eye-catching, the level of turnover growth fell slightly short of the 10% uptick achieved last year, of which more than half was attributed to A&O’s US business.