City law firms report strong financial year with growth across the board
updated on 26 July 2024
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City law firms continue to see robust financial growth, with Clifford Chance reporting its best financial performance for seven years, and Macfarlanes LLP and Mills & Reeve LLP experiencing notable increases in turnover.
Magic circle law firm Clifford Chance has reported a 9% increase in revenue to £2.3 billion for the financial year ending 30 April, marking the highest increase since 2017. This boost in earnings saw top partner pay increase by £40,000 to an average of £2.04 million. The law firm’s senior partners credited the recent revenue and profit growth to its US operations, which achieved a remarkable 28% increase in revenue.
Clifford Chance’s global managing partner Charles Adams said the strong financial performance has enabled “substantial investments in our global team and operations”. Adams added: “All practice areas delivered strong growth, particularly our litigation teams, which had another exceptional year.”
Read about Allen & Overy’s recent pre-merger report and the firm’s significant revenue growth.
Meanwhile, Macfarlanes has reported an increase in turnover of 13.7% to £309 million in the 11-month period from May 2023 to March 2024. Operating profits also increased by 23.1% to £174 million, while profit per equity partner rose by 23.8% to £2.6 million. Macfarlanes' senior partner Sebastian Prichard Jones attributed the strong performance to high demand in 2023/24, despite a challenging economic climate. Jones highlighted “particularly strong performances from our transactional practices, especially with clients operating in the financial services space”.
National law firm Mills & Reeve announced a record turnover of £168 million for 2023/24, a 14.1% increase from the previous period. This follows another successful year for the law firm, marked by significant milestones and exciting projects, including the addition of 22 new partners. The law firm also shared that it’s set aside a record-high staff bonus pool of £3 million.
Elsewhere, Bird & Bird’s revenue was more than £545 million for 2023/2024 and profit per equity partner rose by 8.1% to £793,000; and Taylor Wessing has reported a record global revenue of £481 million, while its UK revenue grew by 8.6% to a record £246.6 million.
