The 20% contingency fee Brown Rudnick agreed to eventually, as we all know, became something of a windfall. The firm negotiated a settlement with the tobacco companies of $9.5bn. Of course, as it transpired, the ultimate fee agreed for the lawyers was a more modest award of around $750m, following acres of fat-catty press and legal spats with a client that became a little churlish in victory. I'd take the three quarters of a billion dollars, mind you. Even if, as is the case, it is delivered in dribs and drabs over several years. Brown Rudnick's partners have split a tidy windfall between themselves, global investments in their business, and charity. The firm is not yet large enough to enter the Legal Business Global 50. But the chances are, with that luck, it shouldn't take too long.

For this year's 50 incumbents, there's $38bn of fees to be fought over. The good news for many is that our 15 Global Elite firms have not increased their market share this year over last. Predictably, though, it's still disproportionately huge: the Global Elite law firms generated $15bn of turnover between them, from which their partners shared $5.6bn. Cigars all round.

Tom Freeman, Editor