The situation remains typically sluggish in the South, where firms continue to tread water as far as profits are concerned and struggle for market share in this hugely competitive region. Yet again, most firms in this peer group suffered flat or declining turnover and many have reported falling equity partner numbers; both signs that, despite …
As far as merger headlines go, the Major UK peer group has had a bellyful over the past 12 months. Even in a year where the LB100 has seen consolidation across the board, the UK’s leading national firms still stand out as the most acquisitive. It’s a trend driven by necessity. On the face of …
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. In a year where eurozone turbulence rocked the continental market and wider global growth failed to meet forecasts, being a solely UK-based firm seemed like a good bet. Well, for some at least. Variability has always been a feature of the London peer …
Continue reading “LB100 City Domestic – A Tale of Two Cities”
For this year’s LB100, we have a new peer group: City International. This group comprises firms that have leading practices in the City but also have a strong international practice, deriving a healthy proportion of their income from offices outside the UK. All the firms in the peer group have posted increases in turnover and, …
The Major International peer group made its LB100 debut last year and there’s no doubt that it was a timely introduction. Comprised entirely of firms eschewing full financial integration in favour of looser Swiss Verein-type structures, the players included under this banner have continued to blaze a trail with their entrepreneurial approaches to law firm …
Continue reading “LB100 Major International – One Verein Day”
In its first major overhaul since the introduction of peer groups in 2004, the Global Elite table is only five firms long. Herbert Smith has transferred to the City International table after exhibiting profitability levels far below the elite group average. But while Global Elite earnings may combine to provide the highest grossing turnover average …
At the time of the first LB100, Macfarlanes was three years into a non-exclusive international alliance that included US firm O’Melveny & Myers, Paris-based Simeon & Associés (now part of Lovells), and Germany’s Noerr Stiefenhofer Lutz. There were offices in Tokyo and Brussels, and indeed Julian Howard, now managing partner of the firm, was the …
Continue reading “LB100 Macfarlanes: Swimming Against The Tide”
Twenty years ago, Osborne Clarke (OC) had revenues of £11.4m and an average PEP of £97,000. It was a Bristol firm with a very small London office and the origins of an international alliance. ‘Lots of firms have overtaken us,’ says the current managing partner Simon Beswick, ‘but really OC was the first regional firm …
Continue reading “LB100 Osborne Clarke: From South West to West Coast”
Allen & Overy’s worldwide senior partner David Morley remembers doing his first deal for Goldman Sachs as a young partner in the banking group in 1992. This was a time when the fact that an American investment bank was in London was still big news: the arrival of the US financial institutions, which began at …
Continue reading “LB100 Allen & Overy: Turnover Soars With Globalisation”
The LB100 survey is now in its 20th year – what does the data reveal about how the market has changed? When LB first published the gross fees of the UK’s biggest firms in 1992, it was met with consternation and horror by some partners. ‘It is one thing for the Americans and accountants to …
