Hogan Lovells has pushed through the US$3.2 billion barrier with double‑digit growth, fatter partner profits and a clear bet on regulated markets, tech and AI – sending a pointed message to rivals still blaming “market conditions” for flat numbers.
Key takeaways for lawyers
- Global revenue up 11% to US$3.285 billion (about £2.49 billion), marking a third consecutive year of record results and a six‑year growth run.
- Revenue: US$2.965b → US$3.285b.
- Revenue per lawyer: US$1.097m → US$1.210m.
- Profits per equity partner: US$3.072m → US$3.522m (PPEP up roughly 15%).
- The Americas now account for about half of total billings, generating roughly US$1.6 billion, with US revenue up nearly 12% and US PPEP jumping around 24% (even though the firm doesn’t formally publish regional PPEP).
- The firm is still very much a transatlantic animal: EMEA contributes roughly 46% of revenue, Asia‑Pacific just 4%, underlining that most of the money is still coming from the US and Europe, not the growth‑story rhetoric about Asia.
- Practice mix remains deliberately “balanced”:
Why the numbers really moved
- Management is pinning the result on demand from highly regulated sectors and complex cross‑border work – think regulatory risk, sanctions, trade, national security, energy, life sciences and digital markets.
- Corporate & Finance posted double‑digit global growth despite a choppy transactional market, helped by deals in sectors where regulatory clearance is half the transaction.
- Global Regulatory & IP and Disputes also had strong years, with a notable contribution from one of the market’s more muscular trade practices.
- The geographic spread mirrors where regulation bites hardest – key G20 economies, a heavy US and European skew, and selective growth in places like Italy for private capital and credit work.
People, laterals and the “next gen” story
- Promotions: 28 new partners and 53 counsel – the firm is selling this as proof that organic growth is still a thing, not just lateral musical chairs.
- Laterals: 49 new partners, including nine in Italy focused on M&A, private equity, capital markets, leveraged finance and private credit – a clear bet on one of Europe’s more active transactional markets.
- The message to associates and partners elsewhere: Hogan Lovells is still investing in headcount rather than using performance as a pretext to quietly shrink.
Tech, AI and ELTEMATE
- The firm says it is putting about 5% of revenue into tech and digitalisation, including its legal tech and AI business ELTEMATE – a sizeable cheque at this scale.
- ELTEMATE acts as the hub for legal tech, AI, data and workflow tools – from regulatory intelligence and databases through to eDiscovery and contract automation – and is pitched as the engine for “industrial‑grade” legal work product.
- For clients, that translates into more tech‑enabled delivery in large regulatory, disputes and investigations mandates; for lawyers, it signals continued pressure to work comfortably alongside AI‑driven tools rather than compete with them.
Mandates that matter
- Transactions in heavily regulated and strategic sectors:
- Advising the Government of Ukraine on a landmark mineral rights agreement with the US government.
- Acting for Oxford Ionics on its US$1.08 billion sale to IonQ in the quantum computing space.
- Supporting Sojitz Corporation on a healthcare acquisition in Singapore, and Azul S.A. on high‑stakes recapitalisation and Chapter 11‑linked capital markets work in Brazil.
- Litigation and international disputes:
- PrivatBank’s English High Court win for more than US$3 billion in damages and costs against former owners in one of the largest fraud recoveries in the English courts.
- Acting for major automakers in the Pan‑NOx emissions group litigation, one of the largest and most complex class actions before the English courts.
- An ICSID victory for Energía y Renovación Holding, securing an award of around US$74.5 million including interest against Guatemala, plus nearly US$3.9 million in fees and costs.
- Regulatory and IP:
- MSD’s landmark patent litigation win in Japan, keeping Januvia® (sitagliptin) safe from generic entry.
- Securing federal approval for the SPOT deep‑water crude oil terminal in the US – the first such license since the 1970s – against a dense web of agencies and shifting regulation.
- Advising Stonepeak on national security and government contracts issues in a US$3.1 billion aviation‑related acquisition.
Cross‑border, energy and digital focus
- Cross‑border expansion: work includes ZEEKR’s moves into markets from Australia and Brazil to the UAE, Madison Pacific’s US$153 million LCIA award enforcement involving a Black Sea export terminal, and Seatrium’s Operation Car Wash‑related investigations and leniency deals.
- Capital markets and sovereign work: the firm advised the Republic of Ecuador on a multi‑billion‑dollar return to the international capital markets via new sovereign bonds and related tender offers.
- “Future of Digitalization” and “Future of Energy” are not just slogans:
- The Crown Estate on repurposing infrastructure for carbon capture and storage in the UK.
- Banks on a €640m securitisation backed by data centre leases – the first euro‑based data‑centre securitisation in continental Europe.
- DESNZ on defending the Bulb‑to‑Octopus energy transaction, cementing key subsidy control and fairness principles.
- FDA‑related wins for women’s health technologies in breast and cervical cancer.
Pro bono and responsible business angle
- The firm clocked more than 256,000 Responsible Business hours, including more than 174,000 hours of pro bono work in the year.
- Highlights include:
- A US Supreme Court 9‑0 win in Barnes v Felix, reshaping the national standard for police use of force under the Fourth Amendment.
- A major French trafficking case that shifts the evidentiary burden to prosecutors once victims show sufficient evidence, plus practical support via a new walk‑in clinic in New York with Sanctuary for Families.
- A settlement for more than 150 inmates at Souza‑Baranowski in Massachusetts providing US$6.75 million plus systemic reforms, training and mandatory video recording of incident responses.
- Support for 85 social entrepreneurs through HL BaSE Catalyst and Training across multiple European jurisdictions and New York.
