Legal Business 100 2023: Stuck records

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Legal Business 100 2023: Stuck records

Overview: Here comes the rain again

Our 2023 Legal Business 100 report finds law firm leaders in unusually pensive mood with the inevitable end to the transactional bull run. How will firms adapt to having to change the record?

The LB100 main table

Key financials of the top 100 firms

The LB100 partner earnings table

The LB100 core stats

The second 25: Riders of the storm

After an uncharacteristically muted performance last year, the LB100’s longstanding pacesetters – firms in the 26-50 quartile – find that lightning can strike twice. What will it take for the group to rebound?

The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?

A diverse mix of specialist boutiques and full-service firms, the London mid-market players are struggling to prove which strategy works in competitive conditions

The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

Consolidation is rife among regional and national firms occupying the second half of the LB100. A sign of things to come?

Firm profiles

Firm profile Eversheds Sutherland: ‘Beyond the soundbites’

Firm profile Womble Bond Dickinson: ‘Joining the dots’

gunnercooke: ‘Cooking up a storm?’

Endnotes

Methodology and notes

LB100 – Overview: Here comes the rain again

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LB100 – Overview: Here comes the rain again

Last year’s LB100 report saw firm leaders bullish, overwhelmingly characterising a boom market, even as macroeconomic indicators had started to flash warning signs.

This year, it seems, some of the confidence of stellar recent years has finally started to dwindle. Revenue has continued to grow, though at a slightly slower rate: with turnover up on average 8% across the LB100 table, to a total of £33.77bn. For context, this is one percentage point less than the 9% increase in the group’s top line to £31.35bn recorded in 2022. Continue reading “LB100 – Overview: Here comes the rain again”

LB100 – The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?

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LB100 – The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?

This year, 24 London-headquartered and boutique firms can be found in the second half of the LB100, experiencing an average revenue of £57.3m from last year’s £53.4m. This 7% increase almost matches the average revenue growth experienced by the firms across the entire LB100.

Taking a closer look at the breakdowns of the group’s performance tells us that in FY22/23, the average number of lawyers among the City and boutique firms is up by 16% from last year to 207 from 179. However, profit per lawyer for the group is up 4% to reach 2021 levels at £85,000. Continue reading “LB100 – The second 50 – City and boutique: London falling?”

LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

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LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together

The 26 regional and national firms occupying the 51-100 places in this year’s LB100 come in with an average of 269 lawyers and 33 equity partners, a slight increase on last year. Average revenue increased 5% to £57.5m, three percentage points below the growth rate of the LB100 as a whole. This mirrors last year, where average revenue only increased by 4%, a departure from the 11% and 13% growth rates seen in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

More significantly, our 2023 report also sees a sharp decline in profit per equity (PEP) by 14% to £345,000, in a stark contrast to the 14% growth rate last year and a much heavier dip than that experienced by the LB100 at large. Continue reading “LB100 – The second 50 – Regional view: Coming together”

LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites

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LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites

Having achieved a steady rise in revenue over the past five years, can Eversheds Sutherland maintain its place in the top ten of the LB100?

‘I can’t think of a soundbite for the firm,’ dismisses one finance head at a peer firm when canvassed for his view on Eversheds Sutherland’s place in the market. Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – Eversheds Sutherland: Beyond the soundbites”

LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots

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LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots

With mergers and performance across the pond enduringly hot topics in this year’s LB100 report, LB checked in with Womble Bond Dickinson to see how the firm has performed since it became a transatlantic law firm, and how its strategy looks after its tie-up talks with BDB Pitmans fell through

‘They were the right discussions to have,’ says Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) managing partner Paul Stewart (pictured) of the talks with Pitmans. ‘But law firm mergers are not easy things to do. I wouldn’t rule anything out, but there’s certainly nothing I would talk about at the moment in terms of that kind of transactional activity.’ Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – Womble Bond Dickinson: Joining the dots”

LB100 – firm profile – gunnercooke: Cooking up a storm?

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LB100 – firm profile – gunnercooke: Cooking up a storm?

With pacey revenue growth over the last five years, gunnercooke looks to be a poster child for operating under the fee-sharing model. Is the firm really cooking with gas or will it struggle to keep market share as economic pressures mount?

Now celebrating its second year in the LB100 main table, having risen five places on last year to 73rd place, gunnercooke is also notable for the fact that its revenue has more than doubled in a five-year timeframe. ‘The firm has been successful,’ notes one managing partner. ‘It appeals to individuals who are attuned to looking out for their own particular interests,’ he notes, referring to the firm’s less traditional fee-sharing model. Continue reading “LB100 – firm profile – gunnercooke: Cooking up a storm?”