Harbottle & Lewis has posted record financial results for its most recent financial year, with turnover up 8.3% to £58.3m, from £53.8m last year.
This figure caps a decade of sustained expansion for the West End firm, with revenue increasing by 131% since the 2015-16 financial year, when it stood at £25.2m.
The firm does not yet have profit per equity partner (PEP) figures. However, co-managing partner and corporate practice head Charles Leveque (pictured left) said he believes the firm’s margins will remain roughly similar to recent years. Last year, the firm’s PEP inched up 2% to £756,000 from £741,000 in 2023–24.
Leveque described the results as ‘very healthy,’ noting that while some growth was driven by a pair of partners hired last March, private client disputes partner Charles Lloyd from Macfarlanes and information litigator and reputation management partner Michael Yates from Taylor Wessing, much of it was ‘pleasingly organic.’
He added that growth was ‘very evenly spread across the business’, with no single department dominating performance: ‘Everybody has contributed across the board, both contentious and non-contentious, both industry-specific sectors and those that are less industry-specific.’
Harbottles promoted three lawyers to the partnership this April: Catherine Flood in media, Clare McGarry in media and IP, and Sarah Verrecchia in employment, while property lawyer Jonathan Hewitt and corporate lawyer Emily Miles were appointed to the newly created role of legal director.
The firm remains open to lateral hires where the right partner comes along, with Leveque saying he hopes to welcome new partners in due course: ‘We’re always having those conversations.’
With revenue more than doubling over the past decade, Leveque said this growth had driven a ‘professionalisation’ in decision-making, with greater use of executive bodies and significant work on governance over the past five years.
He added that the firm now has a governance infrastructure that is ‘fit for purpose’ and strong enough to support a £200-300m revenue business: ‘We’ve got the building blocks in place to continue to grow.’
On the firm’s evolution, Leveque said: ‘We haven’t lost sight of our roots or the legacy of our media and entertainment practices, but we’ve strategically built around that core, adding complementary practice areas and sector focuses that are symbiotic with it, allowing us to leverage that specialism and expand into a much wider, full-service firm.’
While still best known for its media, entertainment and private client work. Leveque also points to the firm’s family and matrimonial practice as a significant driver, as well as its information and reputation management practice.
As to future plans, co-managing partner and venture capital and emerging companies practice co-lead Tony Littner (pictured right) said that the firm had been ‘early adopters’ of AI. He added that it was ‘doubling down on humans as well as technology,’ saying: ‘While the way legal services are delivered will change significantly, we believe human judgement and the skillsets of their lawyers will become even more important, particularly given the premium nature of the clients and service we provide.’
Leveque stated that the single-office firm is not minded to expand geographically, saying that while he believes the firm provides magic circle-level advice, ‘We’re not fishing in the same waters as magic circle law firms, with global corporations that require 25 offices across the globe.’
‘In ten years’ time we will have grown in a way that is sustainable and resilient, but we’re not going to look very different on the map,’ he concluded.
