Latham & Watkins hiked its global revenue by almost 19% to reach a record high of $8.3bn, with profit per equity partner (PEP) soaring by 21.3% to hit $8.7m.
In London, turnover is understood to have surpassed $1bn, although the firm declined to break down its revenue by region.
Latham’s results come weeks after Kirkland & Ellis became the first law firm in history to post revenue of more than $10bn, riding a 20% increase to hit $10.56bn.
That both firms have posted double-digit increases in revenue and PEP, is the latest evidence of the inexorable rise of the world’s most elite firms, as they continue to pull away from rivals.
Latham’s 2025 results take gross revenue up from $7bn in 2024, while average PEP has increased from $7.14m. Last year turnover climbed by 23%, against an almost 30% hike in PEP.
With the firm’s lawyer count rising by just under 4% to 3,724 for the year, the turnover growth means revenue per lawyer climbed by 14% to $2.23m.
Rich Trobman (pictured), the firm’s chair and managing partner, said: ‘We have more market touchpoints, stronger relationships with clients, and more market insights than any other firm across products, practices and industries.’
Commenting on the firm’s performance in London, he added: ‘Our London office continues to be a major driver of growth, and our performance in the City reflects the strengths of our market position and the successes of the strategic investments we have made.’
In 2025, Latham led on almost 800 M&A deals that totalled $719.7bn, second in total value only to its running mate Kirkland, which broke the $800bn mark, despite advising on fewer deals.
Notable mandates for Latham include advising Paramount on its $108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), and acting as primary counsel to Silver Lake on the acquisition of EA Sports by a consortium comprising Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity for $49bn, one of the largest mega-deals of 2025.
In addition to large-ticket transactional mandates, the firm led on listings including on Verisure’s €13.7bn IPO and significant Chapter 11 mandates, including Pine Gate Renewables’ restructuring $7bn of funded debt and equity.
Latham ranked third in last year’s LSEG PE-backed M&A deals ranking, behind Kirkland and Simpson Thacher, working on 231 mandates worth $136.1bn.
The firm also came top in LSEG’s ranking of PE-to-PE deals, advising on 222 deals worth a total of $105.9bn – above Kirkland’s $76.3bn across 245 deals.
Latham has been building up its presence in key markets over the last year. In February, the firm hired two partners out of Wachtell, with Emily Johnson joining its banking and private credit and capital markets practices, and Mark Stagliano joining its M&A and private equity practice. The hires followed the additions of M&A partner Zach Podolsky, a top dealmaker who left Wachtell for Latham last June, and John Sobolewski, who joined Latham last February as global head of liability management, bringing its total number of hires from the Wall Street firm over the last year to four.
The firm has also been investing heavily in London in recent years, where it currently has the largest office of any US firm, with around 600 lawyers and 143 partners. Its recent hiring includes multiple additions from A&O Shearman, including structured finance Hall of Famer Franz Ranero, who joined last summer, and a trio of real estate finance partners, including leading partner David Oppenheimer, whose hires were announced in January.
In a signal of intent, the firm also added a four-partner private equity and M&A team from Freshfields into its German offices, led by dealmakers Markus Paul and Wessel Heukamp.
In London, however, it has continued to see some exits to Sidley Austin, with former global real estate co-chair Jeremy Trinder moving in January this year, and UK equity capital markets co-head James Inness departing last month.
In October the firm made up 40 new partners around the world, with seven promotions in London – more than double last year’s number.
