Which firms are the most profitable?
In this table we blend together all of our profitability measures, including PEP, profit per lawyer and profit margin to discover which of the top 100 firms are the most profitable. The 100 firms have been ranked according to their mean rank across all three measurements. Continue reading “LB100 2014: Behind the Numbers – Profitability Revealed”
Top 50 firms ranked by highest top of equity.
As some seasoned campaigners of the second half of the LB100 prepare to move up a class through mergers, a few City-based specialists continue to defy the tide of consolidation.
Of the merger activity that has swept through the Legal Business 100 (LB100) this year, it is the mid-market City players and national heavyweights that occupy the second 50 of the LB100 that have been most affected.
I had training offers from a couple of Magic Circle firms, but I chose SJ Berwin because at that time they were at the forefront of private equity – it was a dynamic firm then. On qualification I wanted to be a finance lawyer and felt I would have got strong technical training in a firm like Freshfields.
I moved to Kirkland as a fourth year to develop business. I felt there would be more freedom to develop client-winning skills as well as doing deals. I am happy with my choices. It wasn’t a conscious decision that private equity would be such a prominent area – I’ve enjoyed a lot of luck.
Continue reading “Life During Law: Neel Sachdev, Kirkland & Ellis”
Paul Gilbert argues that lazy thinking and perverse incentives are dulling the ethical and intellectual edge of in-house counsel
It’s stated so often but never questioned: everywhere you turn, in-house lawyers pay tribute to the holy grail of ‘being commercial’. But, as I will argue, such an approach raises substantive and troubling questions regarding the influence on the ethical compass that is supposed to be an in-house lawyer’s most important tool.
From collaboration to rough quarters to restoring market confidence, leaders at Legal Business 100 firms give us their views on the last financial year and the next 12-18 months.
‘I feel very optimistic about the economy and therefore the opportunities. Any firm would be foolish in thinking the challenges have gone and those challenges continue to be how we deliver immaculate service and efficiencies to our clients. The market as a whole is still over-lawyered and that challenge remains. It’s still fiercely competitive.’
Monica Burch, senior partner, Addleshaw Goddard
A better year but not every LB100 firm can navigate the choppy waters.
Continue reading “Legal Business 100 2014: Interactive main table”
Thomson Reuters looks at the exciting future of legal services in the wake of a rapidly changing legal market.
If the changes that have taken place in the legal market over the past two years are any indication of what lies ahead, the future of legal services is set to be an exciting one. Mergers and acquisitions, new entrants to the market, economic pressures and evolving client demands have combined to create an environment in which innovative organisations can thrive.
Continue reading “Efficiency as a driver of legal innovation”
Towry’s Chris Cole explains how they help legal partners achieve lifetime financial goals
Over the many years we have been working with law firms, we have found that partners typically have common aspirations from a financial point of view. Chief among these is usually the desire to become ‘financially independent’ – in other words, working out when enough is really enough to achieve the future they want for themselves and their families. However, legal partners are incredibly busy people and so they invariably do not have the time to personally put together a plan to help them achieve this goal.
Continue reading “Achieving financial independence is so much easier if you create a plan”
Marsh’s Sandra Neilson-Moore reflects on the process of applying for professional indemnity insurance, with some added thoughts on cyber liability
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance is a crucial component of the business risk management ‘toolkit’ of any law firm. In this country of course it is compulsory that a minimum amount of such insurance is purchased. This minimum amount is quite small (and may yet become smaller still), but the fact of the matter is that any sensible law firm/practising solicitor will want to purchase as much coverage, with as broad a scope of protection, as they can reasonably afford, and which they believe will meet their needs, and the needs and expectations of their clients.
Continue reading “Professional indemnity: PI insurance – dos and don’ts”
Legal Business for the first time extended its GC Power List into a summer reception. A distinguished list of panellists debated what it takes to get ahead for rising stars of the in-house world
Having for two years built up our annual GC Power List report and reception, Legal Business in June extended the venture into our first summer event as a means to further support the in-house community.
Continue reading “The GC Power List summer reception – Reaching out, reaching up”
If the post-Lehman years have in general been good to the City’s insurance and shipping specialists, 2013/14 has been a year of starkly diverging fortunes amid the familiar backdrop of margin pressure on the volume end of the market.
As such, this loose grouping of law firms has seen some of the strongest performances in the LB100 in 2014, while others have weathered falling revenues and job cuts.
This is most strikingly demonstrated in the two most prominent brands in the City insurance market, Clyde & Co and Ince & Co. While the former has largely sustained its robust growth of recent years, with an 8% increase in global revenues to £365.1m and with profits increasing 10% to £92.8m, Ince has seen a 7% fall in income to £86.7m.
Continue reading “LB100: Shipping and Insurance – Peaks and Troughs”
Weil, Gotshal & Manges has paid over £3m to settle a professional negligence claim made against it in late 2013 by private equity house Bancroft.
Eduardo Leite is set to be re-appointed as chairman of Baker & McKenzie after the law firm regained its title as the world’s largest law firm. Leite, who took charge of the firm in 2010, faced no opposition for the post and partners at the firm understand his re-election will be a mere formality.
Continue reading “Eduardo Leite set to be re-elected as Baker & McKenzie chairman”
Having broken with tradition in making its first-ever lateral hire this year, Slaughter and May has seen a rare departure at partner level, with long-serving tax partner Graham Iversen leaving the firm to become head of Greenberg Traurig Maher‘s (GTM) London tax practice.
Clifford Chance (CC) has turned to BPP Law School as its new training provider in a blow to the University of Law which had worked with the Magic Circle firm for eight years.
Continue reading “Clifford Chance drops University of Law for arch-rival BPP”
Eight years after founding Sidley Austin’s office in Frankfurt, Jens Rinze, the firm’s last remaining partner in the country after a spate of exits, has departed for Squire Patton Boggs.
Squire Patton Boggs loses 23-strong team in Middle East
Squire Patton Boggs saw the departure of five partners and 18 supporting lawyers from its Middle East offices after tensions arose as the recently merged firm integrated its regional affiliates. The exits came as legacy Patton Boggs’ Khalid Al-Thebity was appointed managing partner of the Riyadh office.
Clyde & Co has settled its dispute with former partner Krista Bates van Winkelhof out of court after she alleged she was forced to leave after blowing the whistle on the managing partner of its Tanzanian associate firm and announcing her pregnancy. The case involved a landmark Supreme Court decision which held that members of an LLP could be considered workers. Continue reading “News in brief – September 2014”
The LB100’s regional players have seen starkly divided fortunes with the South West players sailing ahead while northern firms face choppy waters
Collectively, the 29 regional firms in the second half of the Legal Business 100 (LB100) trail in the wake of other peer groups. While average revenue is £38.4m, a little below the £39m of the second 50 as a whole, revenue per lawyer (RPL) is 9% lower than the average for firms ranked 51-100. In terms of profits, average profit per lawyer (PPL) is £45,000, some 10% lower than the bottom 50 average, while profit per equity partner (PEP) is £309,000. Continue reading “The Second 50 – Batten Down”
