Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has released its first set of results as a merged firm, with revenue of $2.4bn (£1.8bn), as the firm targets further growth in Texas and Washington DC.
The results, which account for the year ending 30 April 2026, and include 12 months of legacy HSF and 11 months of legacy Kramer Levin, saw profit reach $850.8m (£633.9m) and profit per equity partner (PEP) narrowly edge above $2m, hitting $2.05m (£1.5m).
Global CEO Justin D’Agostino said: ‘Our distinctive transatlantic and transpacific capabilities have propelled us into a new league.’
The firm would be the 25th largest law firm by revenue in the world, by last year’s Global 100, sitting just above King & Spalding and below Norton Rose Fulbright. Legacy HSF was in 37th place in the same table.
Last year, in its final pre-merger financials, legacy’s HSF’s revenue stood at £1.357bn, with £1.428m in PEP.
For its part, legacy Kramer Levin posted its best-ever financial results last year, with revenue climbing over 7% to $467.2m or £344.8m and PEP rising 25% to £2.2m, in part due to a 17% reduction in its equity tier.
Based on these results last July, the merger’s firm’s revenue was projected to be $2.3bn, meaning the firm has added an extra $100m to its topline.
‘Our investments in Asia and EMEA have resulted in double-digit growth in each,’ D’Agostino said, adding: ‘The UK had another very strong year.’
‘Our Australia business has achieved another year of growth,’ he continued, ‘and our US business has been transformed, with ongoing investments through the year and plans for future growth on track.’
D’Agostino previously told LB the firm was aiming to bring on an additional 20 lateral partners in the US, while US managing partner for corporate Ernest Wechsler said this March that the firm is targeting M&A, private equity and restructuring as particular growth areas.
The firm said in its results statement that it had welcomed a total of 21 lateral partners in the last financial year, including 15 in the US, with notable recent hires including a three-partner corporate team from Paul Hastings in New York, led by Robert Leung, now HSF Kramer’s head of energy, mining and infrastructure in the Americas.
The firm also made up 25 new partners in its latest promotion round, including two in the US.
HSF Kramer continues to ‘advance plans in Texas to strengthen its global energy and infrastructure offering,’ the firm said in statement, adding it plans to expand its litigation and apellate teams in Washington DC.
Speaking to LB in March, Wechsler pointed to mandates such as advising UK insurer Hiscox on a US acquisition and advising Third Point Investors on its combination with Malibu Life Reinsurance as benefits of the tie-up for the US corporate team.
In May, the firm advised Campbell Lutyens on its $575m acquisition by Lazard. The firm ranked 12th for UK involvement in M&A advising on 16 deals in the first half of the year which totaled $42bn, according to LSEG data.
Across the last year, the firm advised on around 240 M&A deals totallying $130bn globally, it said. These include advising Sky and Comcast on the £1.6bn acquisition of ITV’s entertainment business.
That month, the firm also voted through a new integrated remuneration system, which will come into effect from the new financial year on 1 May.
