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Financials 2020/21: ‘Tremendous resilience’ from Freshfields yields 5% turnover and profit growth

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has weathered the coronavirus crisis to report a 5% addition to its top line and profit per equity partner (PEP) respectively, a slight return to form after last year’s more subdued showing.

The firm said today (30 July) that revenue increased to £1.59bn from last year’s £1.52bn as PEP hit £1.91m – a notable increase on last year’s slight drop to £1.82m. Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: ‘Tremendous resilience’ from Freshfields yields 5% turnover and profit growth”

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Financials 2020/21: Osborne Clarke shows spirit with 7% revenue growth and double-digit profit surge

Ray Berg

Osborne Clarke has rallied in the face of last year’s Covid-hindered financials to record a 7% international revenue increase to €341m as UK profit and profit per equity partner (PEP) saw double-digit elevations for 2020/21.

The global revenue increase from last year’s €318m means turnover has grown a respectable 55% over five years. OC’s UK showing has also received a shot in the arm from last year when the firm posted a subdued 3% revenue increase to £155m from £150m, while UK net profit diminished by 5% to £59.8m from £63m. Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: Osborne Clarke shows spirit with 7% revenue growth and double-digit profit surge”

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Financials 2020/21: ‘Fortunate’ Macfarlanes adds 10% to top line as 26-50 LB100 firms post mixed results

Sebastian Prichard Jones

Firms ranked 26-50 in the Legal Business 100 – Macfarlanes, TLT and Watson Farley & Williams – have posted a mixed bag of financials for 2020/21.

Macfarlanes has enjoyed its eleventh consecutive year of revenue growth amid a double-digit profit uptick and profit per equity partner figures that again bely fears of pandemic reversals. The robust 10% turnover increase to £260.96m builds on last year’s 9.5% rise to £237.65m, while PEP increased 9% to £2.09m, continuing last year’s solid 10% boost to £1.91m. Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: ‘Fortunate’ Macfarlanes adds 10% to top line as 26-50 LB100 firms post mixed results”

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Revolving Doors: HSF and RPC reunite with former London insurance specialists

City of London

Amid an uncharacteristically sluggish week for lateral hires, two top-50 Legal Business 100 firms have welcomed former colleagues back to their London insurance practices.

Herbert Smith Freehills has hired Will Glassey to further bolster its solicitors’ professional indemnity and regulatory practice, as well as its professional negligence offering more broadly. He joins from Mayer Brown, where he was head of insurance disputes in London and global co-head of insurance. Before moving to Mayer Brown in 2000, he was an associate in legacy Herbert Smith’s disputes team in London. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: HSF and RPC reunite with former London insurance specialists”

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Financials 2020/21: ‘Strongest-ever quarter’ rescues revenue growth at Clifford Chance

Matthew Layton

Clifford Chance had a late flurry of transactional activity to thank for a respectable set of Covid financials, as profit per equity partner climbed 9% and revenue inched up by 1%.

The firm’s PEP reached £1.85m, up on last year’s £1.69m, while revenue hit £1.828bn from £1.803bn. There was also an 8% uptick in partnership profit, growing to £716m from £666m. Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: ‘Strongest-ever quarter’ rescues revenue growth at Clifford Chance”

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Financials 2020/21: Ashurst breaks the £1m PEP barrier again as turnover climbs 10%

Paul Jenkins

In another set of buoyant pandemic financial results, Ashurst has breached the £1m-profit-per-equity-partner barrier for the first time since the global financial crisis, while revenues received a double-digit boost.

PEP stood at £1.038m, a striking 15% increase on last year’s £903,000 figure. In doing so, Ashurst has fulfilled managing partner Paul Jenkins’ ambition to top £1m in PEP , albeit a year later than hoped.  Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: Ashurst breaks the £1m PEP barrier again as turnover climbs 10%”

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‘An element of the exceptional’: Simmons latest to post striking pandemic financials with double-digit revenue growth and soaring profits

Jeremy Hoyland

Simmons & Simmons managing partner Jeremy Hoyland said there was ‘an element of the exceptional’ in the firm’s financial results announced today (16 July), with revenue growing 12% to £437m and profits shooting up 35% to £171m.

There was also a steep increase in profit per equity partner, growing 30% to reach £980k. Overall, this year’s results far outstrip the unremarkable 4% revenue growth and 6% profit increase from last year , as Hoyland explained that the firm benefited from a significant boom in instructions due to the pandemic. Continue reading “‘An element of the exceptional’: Simmons latest to post striking pandemic financials with double-digit revenue growth and soaring profits”

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Comment: Value is critical but ESG intentions must check out in Morrisons take-private

Morrisons supermarket

‘This level of scrutiny of governance is quite unusual. Historically in deals of this kind, no-one ever used to ask: “What’s going to happen to the workers?” It is becoming more and more of an issue as companies seek to avoid reputational damage.’

The words of Paul Watchman, ESG luminary, senior UN legal adviser and former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner on the proposed £6.3bn takeover of UK supermarket giant Morrisons resonate as the deal looks set not only to become one of the biggest public to private transactions of the decade, but also to enshrine a playbook for ESG in years to come. Continue reading “Comment: Value is critical but ESG intentions must check out in Morrisons take-private”

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Sponsored briefing: Transaction management: Is technology taking over the deal?

If you want the short answer to this question, it’s not yet.

Download Shieldpay’s transaction management eBook.

The adoption of technology by the legal industry has been slow-moving. We first saw new technologies emerge to digitise document storage, data rooms and case management systems. As they have become more or less commonplace, the innovations have provided incremental improvements to the way lawyers work – streamlining, optimising and providing new insight. While the industry is moving in the right direction, we are yet to see technology bring something new to the table; the tools haven’t changed the process entirely nor enabled lawyers to deliver legal services in a totally different manner. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Transaction management: Is technology taking over the deal?”

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‘Laser-sharp focus’: Linklaters elects finance head Lewis as managing partner

Linklaters

Linklaters partners have elected global finance head Paul Lewis as the successor to managing partner Gideon Moore, the firm announced today (15 July).

The move sees Lewis, a Linklaters lifer and a partner since 2006, take the helm alongside Aedamar Comiskey, the M&A heavy-hitter who succeeded Charlie Jacobs as senior partner on 1 July. Continue reading “‘Laser-sharp focus’: Linklaters elects finance head Lewis as managing partner”

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Revolving doors: White & Case lures A&O disputes veteran as McDermott expands energy group

City of London

Veteran litigation partner Lawson Caisley has joined White & Case after nearly nine years at Allen & Overy. Caisley typically advises large corporations, financial institutions and funds on all aspects of commercial litigation and investigations, such as post-acquisition disputes as well as fraud and white-collar crime.

Markus Langen, head of disputes for White & Case in EMEA, described Caisley as a ‘highly ranked lawyer with a strong international practice’ with ‘a track record for advising a number of the world’s largest global companies on their most significant disputes’. He added: ‘The depth of his experience and expertise across sectors and industries will add further prestige and bench strength to our team in London and EMEA.’ Continue reading “Revolving doors: White & Case lures A&O disputes veteran as McDermott expands energy group”

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Financials 2020/21: Profits soar 30% and revenues surpass £1bn at Herbert Smith Freehills

Justin D’Agostino

Herbert Smith Freehills announced a striking 30% increase in profitability as part of its 2020/21 financials today (13 July), with strong international contributions underlining the firm’s robust overall pandemic performance.

The firm’s profit jumped to £366.9m from last year’s £283.2m. This represents an emphatic comeback after profits tumbled by 8% last year amid steep operating costs. Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: Profits soar 30% and revenues surpass £1bn at Herbert Smith Freehills”

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Sponsored briefing: Turkish Citizenship by Investment

The geopolitical and strategic importance of the Republic of Turkey – established in 1923 by its founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – to the European Union, America, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia is undeniable. Being a central meeting point of the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa via the Mediterranean, and its membership of NATO, the Council of Europe, and its current accession talks with the European Union has meant that Turkey has become a significantly important partner for many states around the world.

According to the Turkish constitution, the word Turk, as a political term, includes all citizens of the Republic of Turkey without distinction of or reference to race or religion. Although more than nine-tenths of the population identify their religious identity as Muslim, Turkey is nonetheless a secular country. Certainly, in 1928 Islam was removed as the official state religion and since then, the military has maintained a vigilant watch over Turkey’s political secularism. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Turkish Citizenship by Investment”

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Revolving doors: K&L Gates opens in Luxembourg as firms go global for partner hires

In the latest round of lateral partner appointments, K&L Gates established a new base in Luxembourg while firms went worldwide for their strategic hires.

K&L Gates combined with Luxembourg firm Volckrick & Associates, handing the firm its eighth European branch and bringing the network worldwide up to 46 offices. Continue reading “Revolving doors: K&L Gates opens in Luxembourg as firms go global for partner hires”

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Financials 2020/21: European contributions crucial as Fieldfisher and Kennedys post resilient revenues

Nick Thomas

Thanks in part to their respective European networks, Fieldfisher and Kennedys have both posted robust 2020/21 revenues in the face of the pandemic.

There was an inevitable slowdown in growth at Fieldfisher, today unveiling a modest 6% uptick in revenues to reach £290m. It is the firm’s eighth consecutive year of growth, but it does not match double-digit increases seen in recent years. The firm chalked up the deceleration to ‘the impact of the pandemic.’ Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: European contributions crucial as Fieldfisher and Kennedys post resilient revenues”

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Financials 2020/21: revenues up just £1m at CMS UK despite modest global growth

CMS UK unveiled a muted set of financial results today (5 July), with revenues inching up from £566m to £567m as global income increased  3% from €1.426bn to €1.475bn.

However both marginal increases represent a slowing of growth on the previous year, when UK and global figures grew 4% and 5% respectively. Continue reading “Financials 2020/21: revenues up just £1m at CMS UK despite modest global growth”

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Revolving doors: Ashurst and King & Spalding expand transactional teams

handshake

There was a transactional theme to this week’s lateral partner recruitment, as Ashurst, King & Spalding, Pinsent Masons and Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) all made strategic hires, while Michelmores added a number of partners.

Seasoned private equity specialist François Hellot has joined Ashurst’s Paris office after a 12-year partnership stint at Dechert. Hellot is particularly noted for his work in the telecoms, health and biotechnology sectors, and has assisted clients on both French domestic and international matters. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Ashurst and King & Spalding expand transactional teams”

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Dealwatch: Global 100 firms bank on €1.8bn Visa deal as payments, gaming and ESG charge the market

As Euro 2020 fever well and truly takes hold, the London deal team of Skadden has scored four times in recent days, not least advising Visa on its €1.8bn acquisition of European open banking platform Tink opposite an international team from White & Case.

Tapping into the ongoing trend of transactions in the online payments sector, the high-profile deal sees the US financial services giant acquire Stockholm-headquartered Tink, a platform that enables banks, fintechs and start-ups to develop data-driven financial services. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Global 100 firms bank on €1.8bn Visa deal as payments, gaming and ESG charge the market”