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Global 100: The long haul

A decade of flying the Global 100 has left some legal players frazzled while others have become increasingly energised. Here we chart ten years’ performance by the world’s largest law firms

‘We want to be the number one global law firm and, without a strong US component, we won’t achieve that,’ – this comment, made by Linklaters managing partner Simon Davies in 2008, reflects a perennial issue since Legal Business first began producing its own list of the top 50 global firms by revenue in 2004. The tussle between the UK Magic Circle and the Wall Street elite has dominated agendas since that period. Continue reading “Global 100: The long haul”

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In the game – will new rules on success fees see litigators take a gamble?

Three years after the Jackson review, reforms to litigation costs have finally arrived. But one change in particular, damages-based agreements, has polarised disputes lawyers. Can contingency fees work in mainstream commercial litigation?

When Lord Justice Jackson completed his year-long review of costs in civil litigation in January 2010 he proposed, in his words, ‘a coherent package of interlocking reforms, designed to control costs and promote access to justice’.

Continue reading “In the game – will new rules on success fees see litigators take a gamble?”

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Global 100: Latham & Watkins

Despite facing considerable reverses in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis – which saw a sharp fall in revenues and profits in its 2009 financial year – the US-based Latham & Watkins looks to have settled back into a solid upward track.

The Los Angeles-bred firm had another robust year in 2012, reinforcing its position among the global elite with a 6% growth in net profits to over $1bn. After achieving top quartile growth for the 2011 financial year, revenue growth was this time more subdued, rising 3% to $2.22bn while profit per equity partner (PEP) rose by 8% to $2.4m. In the last full boom year of 2007, Latham posted revenues of $2bn, against PEP of $2.27m. Continue reading “Global 100: Latham & Watkins”

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Global 100: Methodology

FINANCIAL YEAR-ENDS

Financial data shown is for the last financial year – either calendar year 2012 or 2012/13.

Financial years differ – most end in December in the US, and in April in the UK.

Legal Business takes the compilation of the Global 100 very seriously. We make every effort to ensure that the figures we publish are accurate and precise. The overwhelming majority of firms co-operate fully with us in this regard by providing us with the required information. Some firms choose not to co-operate officially with our data collection process and in these circumstances we rely on figures given to us by trusted but anonymous sources. Continue reading “Global 100: Methodology”

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Hogan Lovells was right to get hitched. It needs to remember that.

I’m not a big fan of comparing law firm mergers to marriages. All those torturous metaphors and incongruous imagery. But in assessing the three-year old union between Lovells and Hogan & Hartson, it’s hard to escape the nuptial motif. The deal was forged amid high expectations and a simple analysis: both firms were better off together as neither looked compellingly positioned for an emerging elite of global law. Putting together a transatlantic merger of equals with two large firms that ranked just below the top tier in their respective markets made sense and was arguably a first for the profession.

But, as we address this month, the problem with raising expectations is that you’ve then got to meet them. And on that yardstick the firm has faltered. Three years in Hogan Lovells is still struggling for growth, the gap between its profitability and other global 20 peers remains too wide and the break-through in transactional work is elusive.

Continue reading “Hogan Lovells was right to get hitched. It needs to remember that.”

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Global 100: DLA Piper

A highly symbolic year for DLA Piper, with the rapidly-assembled business services juggernaut becoming the world’s largest law firm in revenue terms with income up 9% to $2.44bn, while profit per equity partner (PEP) was up by 6% to $1.3m.

The 1,300-partner firm – which now has nearly 80 offices worldwide – also made ground in pushing up the value chain, a key aim behind the 2011 appointment of former Linklaters head Tony Angel as global co-chair. Profit per lawyer (PPL) was up 10% annually to around $150,000 as the number of lawyers decreased by 3% to 4,036 firm-wide. Continue reading “Global 100: DLA Piper”

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Global 100: The client view

FTSE 100 general counsel (GC) say global firms have finally listened to their concerns on costs and that, if anything, the scales need to be tipped in favour of strengthening their relationship once more.

A year ago it was far from uncommon to hear the GCs of large international companies say that, while they battled to stay within a shrinking budget, their trusted advisers showed a surprising detachment from economic reality and a lack of empathy with their clients’ financial situation. Continue reading “Global 100: The client view”

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Global 100: Norton Rose Fulbright

The ascent of Norton Rose up the global league has been swift in recent years, with the City-based law firm currently in 14th place in the Global 100, with turnover marginally up to $1.33bn. Profits per equity partner (PEP) were $887,000.

This growth came due to the dramatic expansion of the Norton Rose Group with the addition of Australian mid-tier Deacons in 2010 and subsequent takeovers in Canada (Ogilvy Renault and Macleod Dixon) and South Africa (Deneys Reitz). Continue reading “Global 100: Norton Rose Fulbright”

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Flying High – The Legal Business Global 100

How the Global 100 has gone from turning over $71.6bn to $85bn in five years.

The world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, costs $403.9m dollars to buy. Mayer Brown, ranked 22nd in the Global 100, could buy one A380 with a year’s total equity partner profits. The equity partnership at Latham & Watkins and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom could probably do a deal to buy three apiece – they almost earn enough cash.

Continue reading “Flying High – The Legal Business Global 100”

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The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100

The market for the world’s largest law firms remains as reliably turbulent as ever. The group as a whole eked out a 4% hike in revenues to generate $84.9bn, a figure slightly flattering underlying growth due to a handful of sizeable mergers – including the creation of Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons. Revenue per lawyer was flat. In real terms, the world’s legal elite is once again modestly shrinking and headline income growth slowed in comparison to the 2011/12 year. Conditions remain considerably better than seen during 2009/10 but are a long way from pre-2008 boom years.

It has been another year that has re-enforced the overall dominance of US firms, largely due to the strength of the US economy and a delayed revival in contentious work. Of course, the relevant performance of UK advisers since 2008 looks considerably worse due to the sustained weaknesses of sterling and the euro but by any measure, the Magic Circle has lost some ground. Compared to their mid-2000s’ heyday, the profits gap against key New York rivals has again ballooned out, while a group of broad-service US rivals are now challenging their scale and global reach.

Continue reading “The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100”

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All or nothing: Only a handful of DBAs entered into as confusion reigns over hybrid model

‘It’s an extraordinary thing – hundreds of lawyers should have entered into damages-based agreements (DBAs) by now.’

So says Leslie Perrin, former managing partner and senior partner of Osborne Clarke, who is now chairman of litigation funding group Calunius Capital, with around £40m of capital to invest in disputes.

Instead, DBAs, which came into force under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and entitle a lawyer to claim a percentage of their client’s damages by way of fees, have failed to take off at all. Perrin adds: ‘The confusion around the regulations has been such that I don’t think more than a handful of DBAs have been entered into all across the country. There’s so much ambiguity and grief for the first people going down that road and disputes lawyers are unanimous in holding this position.’

Continue reading “All or nothing: Only a handful of DBAs entered into as confusion reigns over hybrid model”

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Revolving Doors: Squire Sanders, Pinsent Masons and Bird & Bird boost corporate and finance capability

Squire Sanders has today announced the hire of US Dorsey & Whitney City-based corporate finance partner Matthew Doughty in a week that has also seen Pinsent Masons take on a new head of banking in Birmingham and Bird & Bird boost its finance capability in Frankfurt.

Doughty, who specializes in equity capital markets (ECM) with experience of the New York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London Stock Exchanges, including AIM, was formerly a partner at Addleshaw Goddard’s City office, from where he joined Squire Sanders in June 2009. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Squire Sanders, Pinsent Masons and Bird & Bird boost corporate and finance capability”

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Clyde & Co advises Olswang on claim arising from £460m Esporta sale

Clyde & Co’s professional financial disputes team led by rated team head Sarah Clover is advising Olswang on a multi-million pound claim stemming from the £460m acquisition by a Halabi family trust of fitness club chain Esporta from private equity firm Duke Street Capital.

Olswang in 2006 fielded a cross-disciplinary team to advise the Ironzar III trust on the high-profile acquisition, led by corporate partners Graham Barber and David Roberts.

The fitness group fell into financial difficulty and was placed into financial administration in 2007, taken over by its lender Societe Generale in a debt-for-equity-swap in 2009 and in 2011 Virgin Active acquired its 55 sites for £77.6m. Continue reading “Clyde & Co advises Olswang on claim arising from £460m Esporta sale”

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Asia-Pac continues to challenge new entrants as DLA Piper freezes Australia salaries

The impact of the Australian downturn has once again been thrown into sharp relief after DLA Piper’s staff in the region were told not to expect pay rises and some partners to expect a drop in pay as the office failed to meet its targets.

As first revealed by RollOnFriday, an email from chief operating officer and stand in local managing partner Andrew Darwin told staff ‘for many…there will be no increase in base salary this year and for others there will only be a modest increase.’

Local partners, meanwhile, were told: ‘many partners will have no increases or, in some cases, a reduction in their remuneration.’ Further savings are also expected to be made on expenses. Continue reading “Asia-Pac continues to challenge new entrants as DLA Piper freezes Australia salaries”

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Guest Post: Legal education review – why everyone is happy and no one is smiling

So the first round of the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) is complete. Julian Webb et al’s report is out and the dust can begin to settle. The research phase faced a number of problems. There are four I would emphasise:

  • a wide, ill-defined brief, not susceptible to original research on the resources devoted to it;
  • a long-term neglect of all interested parties to research the links between education, training, regulation and competence; and,
  • a political situation which looks a bit like the Game of Thrones, without the erotica; and,
  • a regulatory framework that owes at least as much to history and politics as it does to the public interest. Continue reading “Guest Post: Legal education review – why everyone is happy and no one is smiling”
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Government spending review brings legal aid cuts and privatisation closer as MoJ’s budget cut by 10%

The government’s plans to cut criminal legal aid and privatise parts of the court services appeared to edge one step closer yesterday following Chancellor George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review, under which The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will see its budget slashed by 10% over the next 18 months. Continue reading “Government spending review brings legal aid cuts and privatisation closer as MoJ’s budget cut by 10%”