BigLaw’s Pay Party: UK Partners Laugh All the Way to Their Third Homes

Uk partner pay

Which UK Firm Takes The Top Partner Pay?

Magic Circle firms post eye-watering PEP figures while associates wonder if they’ll ever afford London rent

John Bowie, LawFuel publisher

What a delightful time to be a BigLaw equity partner in London. While many mortals navigate inflation and mortgage rates that would make a loan shark blush, the legal elite are having themselves quite the champagne-soaked celebration.

The latest round of financial disclosures from UK’s biggest law firms reads like a fantasy, if your fantasies involve partners earning more in a year than many may not see in a lifetime.

The real star here is Macfarlanes, whose partners are now averaging £3.1m each. That’s Three. Point. One. Million. Pounds. Per partner -an 8 percent increase from last year, because apparently £2.9m just wasn’t cutting it for the private client set.

Macfarlanes lawfuel

The milestone makes Macfarlanes the undisputed king of the UK legal pay mountain, leaving their Magic Circle competitors looking positively modest by comparison.

Revenue climbed 10.1 percent to £371.4m, proving that when you’re advising the ultra-wealthy on how to stay ultra-wealthy, business is always booming.

BigLaw Partner Compensation 2024: Key Metrics Table

CategoryMetric2024 FigureGrowth
UK Market OverviewAverage PEP (Top 50 firms)£973,500+12.9%
Median UK firm PEP£249,000+20.7%
Magic Circle average PEP£2m-£2.2m+8-15%
Top UK PerformersMacfarlanes PEP£3.1m+8%
Linklaters PEP£2.2m+15%
Clifford Chance PEP£2.11m+3.4%
US BigLawAverage partner compensation$1.41m+26% (since 2022)
Elite partner earnings$25-30mN/A
Partner billing rates$1,114/hour+36%
Market DynamicsFirms planning pay overhauls33% (Am Law 200)By 2026
US revenue growth (CC)18%Annual
US profit growth (Linklaters)57%Annual
Associate ComparisonLondon NQ salary£135-150k5-7%
Partner-to-associate ratio15:1-20:1At elite firms
Revenue PerformanceLinklaters total revenue£2.32bn+11%
Clifford Chance revenue£2.4bn+9%
Macfarlanes revenue£371.4m+10.1%

Note: Figures compiled from latest financial disclosures and industry reports. PEP = Profits per Equity Partner. Growth percentages year-on-year unless otherwise stated.

Magic Circle Firms Are Still Rich, Just Less Obscenely So

Meanwhile, the Magic Circle firms are posting numbers that remain impressive, if impressive is cutting over the magic million, though they’re clearly suffering from serious PEP envy when they glance over at Macfarlanes’ figures.

Linklaters managed to scrape together £2.2m per equity partner, a mere 15 percent increase from last year.

Revenue hit a record £2.32bn, up 11 percent, with the firm’s US expansion apparently paying off handsomely. Because nothing says “we’re serious about America” like throwing money at Manhattan real estate and poaching partners with eight-figure packages.

Clifford Chance reported £2.11m per equity partner, up from £2.04m. Their revenue climbed 9 percent to £2.4bn, with the US driving an 18 percent revenue spike. Clearly, their strategy of “follow the money across the Atlantic” is working brilliantly—even if it means their London partners have to settle for a paltry two million and change.

The Associate Reality Check

While partners are dividing up profit pools that would fund small countries, associates are celebrating salary “increases” to £150,000 for newly qualified lawyers. Because when your firm’s partners are averaging £2-3m annually, throwing an extra £25k at the people doing the actual work is clearly the height of generosity.

The associate pay wars that dominated headlines just months ago now look bizarrely quaint. Freshfields and Linklaters matching each other at £150k for NQs? That’s roughly 5 percent of what an equity partner takes home. But sure, let’s pretend this represents some sort of meaningful investment in talent retention.

The US Invasion Continues to Pay Dividends

What’s particularly delicious about these numbers is how they vindicate every firm’s mad dash to establish a US presence. Remember when UK firms used to scoff at their American cousins’ “vulgar” compensation practices? Those days are as dead as the notion that law is about justice rather than profit maximization.

Linklaters’ 57 percent profit growth in the US and Clifford Chance’s 18 percent US revenue increase tell the same story: follow the American money, adopt American pay scales, and watch your PEP figures soar.

A Market That Rewards Excess

These figures arrive at a particularly interesting moment in the legal market. While M&A activity remains relatively tepid and economic uncertainty supposedly haunts boardrooms across the globe, somehow the money keeps flowing uphill to equity partners with remarkable consistency.

The disconnect is almost artistic in its audacity. Associates are being told to lower their expectations for salary increases because deal flow is disappointing, while partners announce PEP figures that surge.

If we strip away the PR spin about “record performance” and “strategic investment,” the numbers reveal a simple truth: BigLaw has perfected the art of extracting maximum value from minimal human capital.

When a single equity partner’s annual take exceeds the combined salaries of 20 associates, you’re operating a decent wealth extraction machine as much as a law firm

As the legal profession supposedly grapples with questions about accessibility, work-life balance, and social responsibility, the equity partners are busy demonstrating exactly where their priorities lie. Spoiler alert: it’s not with making legal services more affordable or creating sustainable career paths for junior lawyer.

These firms will spend the next quarter issuing press releases about their commitment to “diversity and inclusion” and “supporting the next generation of legal talent.”

But the real focus always remains increasing that fat and fun bottom line.

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