LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

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LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

The 26 regional and national firms occupying the 51-100 places in this year’s LB100 come in with an average of 269 lawyers and 33 equity partners, a slight increase on last year. Average revenue increased 5% to £57.5m, three percentage points below the growth rate of the LB100 as a whole. This mirrors last year, where average revenue only increased by 4%, a departure from the 11% and 13% growth rates seen in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

More significantly, our 2023 report also sees a sharp decline in profit per equity (PEP) by 14% to £345,000, in a stark contrast to the 14% growth rate last year and a much heavier dip than that experienced by the LB100 at large. Continue reading “LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together”

LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites

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LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites

Having achieved a steady rise in revenue over the past five years, can Eversheds Sutherland maintain its place in the top ten of the LB100?

‘I can’t think of a soundbite for the firm,’ dismisses one finance head at a peer firm when canvassed for his view on Eversheds Sutherland’s place in the market. Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites”

LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots

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LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots

With mergers and performance across the pond enduringly hot topics in this year’s LB100 report, LB checked in with Womble Bond Dickinson to see how the firm has performed since it became a transatlantic law firm, and how its strategy looks after its tie-up talks with BDB Pitmans fell through

‘They were the right discussions to have,’ says Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) managing partner Paul Stewart (pictured) of the talks with Pitmans. ‘But law firm mergers are not easy things to do. I wouldn’t rule anything out, but there’s certainly nothing I would talk about at the moment in terms of that kind of transactional activity.’ Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots”

LB100 – firm profile – gunnercooke: Cooking up a storm?

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LB100 – firm profile – gunnercooke: Cooking up a storm?

With pacey revenue growth over the last five years, gunnercooke looks to be a poster child for operating under the fee-sharing model. Is the firm really cooking with gas or will it struggle to keep market share as economic pressures mount?

Now celebrating its second year in the LB100 main table, having risen five places on last year to 73rd place, gunnercooke is also notable for the fact that its revenue has more than doubled in a five-year timeframe. ‘The firm has been successful,’ notes one managing partner. ‘It appeals to individuals who are attuned to looking out for their own particular interests,’ he notes, referring to the firm’s less traditional fee-sharing model. Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – gunnercooke: Cooking up a storm?”

Silence is not golden as Legal Business 100 firms need a different tune

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Silence is not golden as Legal Business 100 firms need a different tune

A glance at our Legal Business 100 table this year shows the post-Covid, frothy corporate market conditions have finally come to an end. The significant number of red, downward pointing arrows for profit metrics in particular means the leaders of the top 100 firms by revenue in the UK have reason to be nervous.

The choice of a music chart theme for our report is no accident – this year has seen more movement up and down the table than there has been since the pandemic hit hard. Continue reading “Silence is not golden as Legal Business 100 firms need a different tune”