Legal Business

Crunching the data – Trends and tribulations

The Partnership Scoreboard – Trends and tribulations

As part of our analysis of the modern realities of partnership, Legal Business collected data on partnership rounds for the last three years across three groups: the top ten UK law firms by revenue, the ten US-based law firms with the largest organically-built London branches and a select group of mid-tier City players.

The most obvious observation is that there has been – barring a few exceptions – little easing up of the post-banking crisis clampdown on making up partners. One City head of a major US firm notes: ‘It’s harder to become a partner. All the firms are focused on profitability, the motivations are a lot more financial. Firms will always question the business case.’