Headcount
When looking at the Euro Elite by lawyer headcount, Iberian firms stand out, in large part due to their extensive presence across Latin America. Four of the five largest Euro Elite firms by headcount are Spanish-headquartered, with Benelux giant Loyens & Loeff the exception.
Garrigues is long-established as the largest firm in the Euro Elite, with 1,696 lawyers this year. This total includes the 2025 addition of Mexico’s Sánchez Devanny, which expanded its presence in the country to 81 lawyers.
Cuatrecasas is the only other Euro Elite firm with more than 1,000 lawyers (1,329), with its headcount growth driven by Iberian expansion and an international push that extended its reach to a peak of 25 offices across 11 countries, before it closed Beijing in 2024.
Loyens ranks third by headcount with 721 lawyers, despite operating across just eight offices compared with Garrigues’ 32.
Fourth-placed Perez-Llorca is the fastest grower among the Euro Elite, expanding from 145 lawyers in 2016 to 689 in 2026. The Madrid-headquartered firm – which describes itself as ‘Ibero-American’ – has embarked on a period of rapid international expansion into Brussels, Singapore, Lisbon, Mexico and Colombia in recent years, with an Abu Dhabi launch imminent.
Partner count
Partner headcount across the Euro Elite has risen to 4,397, up 6% over two years and 16% over five years, signalling continued momentum across the group.
Looking at the firms with the highest number of partners, Iberian firms again lead the way, with three of the top five firms headquartered in Spain. Garrigues ranks first with 361 partners, followed by Cuatrecasas with 259. There is then a notable step down to Luther on 146, Uría Menéndez on 130, and Matheson on 128.
Legal 500 top-tier rankings
But it isn’t just about headcount. When it comes to coveted tier one Legal 500 rankings, a different group of firms shine.
Firms dominating Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Baltics lead the way, benefiting from their wide footprint and pre-eminence in markets where US and UK giants are less visible.
The top five Euro Elite firms by top-tier rankings include three CEE firms – Wolf Theiss, Kinstellar and Schoenherr – all of which have a presence across more than 10 European markets, and Baltic leaders Ellex and Sorainen, who are top of the market across Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Offices
Unsurprisingly, the firms with the highest headcount also have the most offices – Garrigues operates from 32 offices, while Cuatrecasas has 24.
Below this, however, there is more variety. Germany’s Luther has 21 offices, with Schoenherr on 15 and Wolf Theiss on 14. All three of these firms sit outside the top 10 firms by headcount, indicating a model in which geographic coverage and office density are prioritised over absolute lawyer scale.
For more, see Euro Elite 2026: why continental independents are holding firm
Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash
