‘Reputation is catching up with reality’: White & Case and Bakers enjoy City revenues gains as rivals stall

London turnover down at Akin Gump, Debevoise and Reed Smith

The London outposts of leading international firms reported mixed results for 2016, with White & Case and Baker McKenzie reporting income growth while Reed Smith and Debevoise & Plimpton both struggled.

White & Case remained on the front foot with a 4% increase to a new high of $290m, however the growth was more muted after the firm reported a 22% rise in income in the City in 2015.

London executive partner Oliver Brettle told Legal Business: ‘The London practice continues to be very strong and is growing in strength. We feel that our market reputation is now catching up with reality on the ground here.’

Globally, the firm saw a boost of around 7% for 2016, up to $1.63bn in turnover, while profit per equity partner increased 2% to $2.05m.

Baker McKenzie meanwhile, which reports in sterling for its London office, reported a bump of 23% as revenue climbed from £145m ($222m) in 2015 to £178m ($241m) in 2016. London managing partner Alex Chadwick said: ‘We had a very good year and worked on some very substantial projects and had a strong year in the transactional space.’

Bakers hired ten new partners in 2016 in the City, including three tax specialists from Big Four accountants. Key deals included acting for Bain Capital on a $3.1bn deal to sell food distributor Brakes Group, and the London office advised on a transaction spanning 60 jurisdictions on a $4bn carve-out for Emerson Electric, selling its network power business to Platinum Equity.

Among the New York players reporting London results, Shearman & Sterling recorded a strong year following a restructuring of its global partnership. The firm’s London office boosted its revenue by 14% for 2016 to $169.7m. Meanwhile, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy registered a 4% uptick in turnover, with London income up to $114.1m in 2016 from $110.2m the previous year.

‘We feel that our market reputation is now catching up with reality on the ground here.’
Oliver Brettle, White & Case

Following a year of extensive lateral recruitment, Sidley Austin posted record London results for 2016. Having landed a six-partner private equity and finance team from Kirkland & Ellis in March 2016, Sidley saw revenue boost to £75.2m ($102m), up 17% from £64.2m ($98.1m).

However, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s growth streak faded, three years after the firm added 18 partners with its acquisition of the bulk of Bingham McCutchen’s City arm. Akin’s local income dropped last year from $91.4m to $87.9m. Debevoise also saw a setback, with turnover falling by 3% to $107m after the firm posted a 20% increase last year.

And having been one of the most active US firms in the City partner recruitment market in 2016, Reed Smith will be hoping for a bounce back after its London revenue slipped 5% in sterling terms to £129m ($174.8m) from £135m ($206.3m). As of January, the firm has added around 50 lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons’ European practice to its UK and European operations.

The world’s largest firm by revenue, Latham & Watkins, this year refused to disclose its London office turnover, a year after falling behind White & Case as the highest-billing US firm in the City. Last year the firm’s reported revenues for 2015 were up 12% to $263m, however Legal Business understands this year City turnover was relatively flat during a quiet year for its key leveraged buyout practice.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

For more on international firms in the City, see our Global London report