London law firms are reaping record profits that confirm London’s dominance of the global legal market, according to research published today.
Partners are regularly earning in excess of £1 million a year with profits per partner up by 12 per cent, the data from Legal Business magazine shows.
The survey of the world’s largest law firms reveals that while just nine UK law firms make the world’s top 50, they account for five of the world’s six largest legal practices.
James Baxter, editor of Legal Business said: “2006/7 is most certainly the year of the British firms. UK firms have invested heavily over the past decade building solid global capabilities and it is now paying off. Together with the strength of the pound, it has never been a better time to be a global law firm billing in pounds.”
“Partners at the world’s top 50 law firms share staggering profits with individuals regularly earning well in excess of £1 million,” he said.
They show that the legal market continues to thrive and revenues of the world’s largest law firms have risen by 14 per cent to $47.52 billion, with 15 firms billing more than $1 billion annually up from 12 firms last year.
Profits have also soared by 16 per cent on the previous year to $18.31 billion.
The average profits per equity partner (PEP), an important benchmark figure for measuring law firm financial performance, is also up by 12 per cent with partners billing on average $1,561,000 in 2006/7.
