A&O Shearman has unveiled its first set of financials since creating the world’s largest Anglo-American law firm — and for a stitched-together giant still working out how to share the same stationery, the numbers are healthy and partner pay too.
Revenue hit £2.9 billion (US$3.7 billion) with pretax profit of £1.1 billion (US$1.4 billion). Average profit per equity partner landed at £2 million (US$2.6 million) — respectable, but a notch below Clifford Chance (£2.1 million) and Linklaters (£2.2 million), and below legacy Allen & Overy’s pre-merger £2.2 million.
Global managing partner Hervé Ekué (pictured) provided the official gloss on the results:
“We have delivered strong results while making important investments in our business, reshaping the firm to ensure we are optimally positioned to meet client needs.”
Integration Pains and Partner Casualties
Behind the glossy statement sits the messy reality of any mega-merger, combined with the new Trump administration and its effects upon Biglaw.
The firm axed around 10 percent of its partners to strip out duplication and also faced political heat in the US after diversity commitments upset certain quarters, prompting a headline-grabbing $125 million pro bono pledge.
For a firm billing itself as a “single, integrated global partnership,” the first year has been about keeping the wheels on as much as it has been about breaking new ground.
Big Mandates, Big Theatre
Despite the housekeeping, A&O Shearman didn’t sit out the deal-making stage. Notable mandates included Liberty Global’s $3.2 billion Sunrise spin-off and Prosus’s €4.1 billion takeover of Just Eat Takeaway as reported by Reuters.
The firm also leaned heavily into ESG optics, logging nearly 120,000 pro bono hours, up 23 percent year-on-year, with over US$2.7 million directed to Women for Women International as Canadian Lawyer reported.
Why It Matters
This was on Big Law merger billed as the most significant transatlantic merger in legal history. The results has been strong, rather than spectacular. A&O Shearman is big, profitable, and market-relevant, but not yet the market-beater that some partners had hoped.
Clients gain cross-border coverage that looks seamless on the marketing brochure. Partners get slightly thinner profits than in A&O’s solo days. And the firm gets to say it survived its first year without imploding.
Tom Borman is a regular LawFuel contributor writing on the top law firms and best law firm lists in American law. He has written recently about law firm pay rates, major law firms like Kirkland & Ellis, law firm SEO and related legal matters. He can be contacted through news@lawfuel.com
