Revenues at Linklaters are set to smash the £1bn barrier for the first time as it challenges Clifford Chance for the title of the world’s largest law firm, The Lawyer reports.
Linklaters will outshine Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, with growth of around 15 per cent. Despite the massive upheaval at Freshfields, insiders predict that its revenue will rise by 12 per cent to take it to just shy of £1bn at £987m.
Prior to the restructuring the firm was aiming for a 25 per cent rise in revenue per partner. That is likely to be more like 22 per cent. “And that’s a conservative estimate, because effectively you had 30 or so partners who weren’t working for the last four months because of the restructuring,” said a source.
Other firms are also receiving encouraging news. Clifford Chance, which has so far been the only firm to turn over £1bn, is expecting turnover to rise by around 15 per cent and plateau partners to reap more than £1m.
Ashurst has trailblazed the way for a record year for UK firms with an astounding 28.5 per cent rise in turnover, taking it from £214m to £275m.
Based on last year’s profit margin, average profit per equity partner will pass £800,000, with the most optimistic estimates suggesting that it could jump by 30 per cent to more than £900,000.
