An analysis of The Legal 500 rankings underlines some of the key factors driving the Hogan Lovells-Shearman merger talks
From a Legal 500 perspective, Hogan Lovells dwarfs Shearman & Sterling in terms of total rankings, with three times as many spots across the UK, US, EMEA, Asia-Pacific and Latin America – 343 to 113.
In particular, Hogan Lovells has a huge UK/EMEA presence (242 rankings), primarily due to its legacy Lovells roots, with a substantially larger footprint in key markets like France, Germany and Italy, as well as rankings in multiple jurisdictions where Shearman does not have offices, such as Spain, Poland and the Netherlands.
In London, Hogan Lovells has 66 rankings, including 18 top-tier spots, with particular strength in corporate and commercial, real estate and disputes, putting it streets ahead of Shearman’s 18 UK rankings, which are heavily centred around finance and capital markets.
Hogan Lovells has a massive 48 top-tier rankings across the UK and EMEA, compared to just one for Shearman.
While the firms are broadly comparable in the US in terms of total rankings, the bulk of Shearman’s tier 1 and 2 US rankings are in prestigious and lucrative markets such as capital markets, finance and securities litigation (see pie chart, below), where Hogan Lovells is less prominent – pointing to Shearman’s well-established Wall Street credentials as a key driver behind the potential tie-up.
The contrast in terms of ranked individuals is even starker than the rankings, with Hogan Lovells boasting four times as many rankings as Shearman – 377 to 92. Again, London and EMEA are the core source of strength for Hogan Lovells, where 257 of their lawyers are ranked, including 46 Hall of Famers.
In contrast, Shearman has just 17 Hall of Famers around the world, including six in the US, compared to 15 US Hall of Famers at Hogan Lovells.
The Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2023 is now available at www.legal500.com