UK editors Georgina Stanley (pictured) and Ben Wheway take a deep dive into the performance of the Legal Business 100 firms in the most recent UK Legal 500 research
Spotting trends across research as vast and wide-ranging as The Legal 500 UK Solicitors isn’t always straightforward. The research by Legal Business’s sibling title is unique in the depth and granularity with which it covers the UK market, identifying the market-leading law firms everywhere from the upper echelons of the premium private equity market in London to agriculture and estates in Scotland.
The rigour of the research means that firms of all shapes and sizes have the opportunity to shine – to be recognised for their work, client base and local reputation, whether a City boutique or a global powerhouse.
But, while the diversity of firms included in the Legal 500 2023 is extremely broad, the performance of the UK’s largest law firms within it cannot be underestimated.
To tie in with this issue’s LB100, we’re taking a closer look at the performance of the UK’s largest 100 law firms by revenue in the 2023 Legal 500 research.
Between them, the LB100 firms hold half of all the practice rankings in the UK guide – 4,662 of 9,419 in the 2023 research. More than half of these firms’ rankings (2,448) are in London – 57% of all London rankings.
On average, LB100 firms have 47 UK Legal 500 rankings, and this year secured an average of almost three promotions and two new rankings each.
As highlighted in this year’s LB100, the disparity in scale between those firms in the top quartile of the LB100 and those in the bottom 25 is vast, and the same is inevitably true of The Legal 500 rankings.
The top 25 LB100 firms have an average of 75 UK Legal 500 rankings, and this year those firms secured an average of almost five promotions and two new rankings.
‘The LB100 firms hold half of all the practice rankings in the UK guide. More than half of these firms’ rankings (2,448) are in London.’
These averages are driven up by the largest national players, such as Pinsent Masons, DLA Piper and Eversheds Sutherland, whose extensive national networks of offices help them top the table of firms with the most UK rankings, all with more than 130 recommended practices. Inevitably, this dominance extends to individual rankings, with the trio also housing more ranked lawyers UK-wide than anyone else.
Looking at London though, a new leader emerges; with Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) holding 75 practice rankings – five more than DLA Piper in second place, while Pinsent Masons, Hogan Lovells, CMS and Norton Rose are not far behind, with each holding at least 65.
But what about those coveted top-tier rankings? Here, Clifford Chance (CC) leads the pack in London, with 33 tier one rankings, narrowly ahead of HSF and Allen & Overy (A&O), which each have 31 top-ranked practices in the City, edging them ahead of Linklaters (27) and CMS (26).
These same firms also fare well in the charts for most ranked individuals. Stripping out national firms here for a fairer comparison, CC, HSF, A&O and Linklaters lead the pack, with more than 150 ranked individuals apiece.
Analysis of the UK rankings also demonstrates just how entrenched US and international firms have become in the London market. While the international firm with the most London rankings is global player Baker McKenzie and the next three highest scoring firms are all the product of transatlantic mergers (Dentons, Mayer Brown and Reed Smith), US-headquartered firms are making their weight felt in London across multiple practices. White & Case and Latham & Watkins each have close to 40 London rankings – a tally that puts them not far behind City stalwarts Bird & Bird and Macfarlanes. Meanwhile Paul Hastings, Morgan Lewis and Sidley are all on more than 20.
Bakers also leads the way for top-tier London rankings with 16, but Dentons, White & Case, Latham, Reed Smith and Kirkland all have at least six tier one practice rankings apiece, which puts them not far behind the likes of Addleshaw Goddard and Clyde & Co, and narrowly ahead of firms such as Macfarlanes and Taylor Wessing.
These tallies are all the more significant when you look at the practice spread, as US firms are generally ranked across a narrower range of areas.
Fifty percent of the top 25 US firms’ rankings are across corporate and commercial and finance, significantly higher than the equivalent figures for the top 25 firms in the LB100 – 16% for corporate & commercial and 13% for finance. The largest proportion of the LB top 25 firms’ rankings (19%) is in real estate, compared with 12% for the largest US firms.
In total, the UK Legal 500 includes 1,119 ranked firms, up from 1,090 last year, with a further 295 Firm to Watch rankings. The rankings include 605 promotions, with DWF, Shoosmiths and Addleshaw Goddard securing the most promotions nationwide. It also includes nearly 500 new rankings, with Shoosmiths picking up the largest number of new rankings with nine. There are almost 11,000 individual rankings in the guide, 45% of which are leading individuals. Just over 5,000 of the individual rankings are in London.
georgina.stanley@legal500.com
ben.wheway@legal500.com
The Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2023 is now available at www.legal500.com