A ‘Good Health’ tick has been provided to the major UK law firms with the revelation of the the largest 200 UK law firms of 2018 revealed with the publication of The Lawyer UK 200: Top 100 2018. But there are threats to their continued dominance.

The rankings show that the largest 200 firms based in the UK generated revenues of £25.68bn, a rise of almost 10 per cent (9.5) on 2016/17 year according to the Lawyer rankings. But the survey also shows that there are threats to their growth ahead, including the continued rise of the US law firms and the growth of New Law firms.

Although the number of fee earners, including partners and qualified lawyers, in the top 200 showed continued growth (at 5 per cent), the number of equity partners in the firms rose only slightly by 0.6 per cent, reflecting the firms’ increased pressure from competitors in the legal market.

But New Law Firms like Axiom, LOD and Peerpoint are among those having an effect on the traditional Big Law firms.

The rankings also carry eight new law firms (the so-called ‘Independents’) with six feature in the lower half of the revenue ranking, The Independents.

Below is the ranking of the top 200 law firms in the UK by revenue.

The top 200 UK law firms 2018 by revenue

Rank 2018	Rank 2017	Firm name	Revenue (£m)
1	1	DLA Piper	1,799.5
2	2	Clifford Chance	1,623.0
3	5	Hogan Lovells	1,581.0
4	3	Allen & Overy	1,570.0
5	4	Linklaters	1,523.5
6	7	Norton Rose Fulbright	1,514.0
7	6	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	1,403.0
8	9	CMS	1,138.7
9	8	Herbert Smith Freehills	926.8
10	13	Eversheds Sutherland	721.8
11	10	Ashurst	564.0
12	11	Clyde & Co	551.3
13	12	Slaughter and May*	486.7
14	15	Gowling WLG	455.5
15	14	Pinsent Masons	451.0
16	16	Simmons & Simmons	354.1
17	17	Bird & Bird	337.0
18	19	Taylor Wessing	301.5
19	18	Berwin Leighton Paisner*	277.4
20	24	Addleshaw Goddard	242.0
21	20	Irwin Mitchell	241.8
22	21	Osborne Clarke	239.6
23	23	DWF*	235.0
24	22	DAC Beachcroft	230.0
25	29	Fieldfisher	207.0
26	27	Macfarlanes	201.6
27	32	Kennedys	196.0
28	25	Stephenson Harwood	189.4
29	28	HFW	179.1
30	26	Withers	176.6
31	30	Watson Farley & Williams	162.9
32	31	Mishcon de Reya	161.3
33	33	Charles Russell Speechlys	150.5
34	35	Travers Smith	146.9
35	36	Shoosmiths	128.5
36	39	RPC	112.7
37	44	Mills & Reeve	106.3
38	38	Bond Dickinson	105.0
39	37	BLM	104.7
40	42	Trowers & Hamlins	102.5
41	43	Weightmans	97.1
42	40	Hill Dickinson	96.8
43	46	Burges Salmon	90.0
44	48	Gateley	86.1
45	45	Ince & Co	83.4
46	49	TLT	82.0
47	51	Freeths	78.9
48	53	Penningtons Manches	76.1
49	54	Keoghs*	74.5
50	52	Shakespeare Martineau	73.9
51	50	Blake Morgan	73.3
52	55	Browne Jacobson	73.0
53	56	Brodies	68.6
54	57	Farrer & Co	63.5
55	47	Stewarts	62.4
56	58	Burness Paull	57.6
57	60	Shepherd & Wedderburn	53.5
58	59	Howard Kennedy	53.3
59	61	Fladgate	53.0
60	63	Lewis Silkin	52.9
61	62	Forsters	52.1
62	67	Birketts	48.1
63	65	Clarke Willmott	46.7
64	N/A	Minster Law*	46.0
65	69	Bristows	44.1
66	72	Bevan Brittan	44.0
67	68	Walker Morris	43.7
68	73	Foot Anstey	43.4
=69	66	Dickson Minto*	43.0
=69	71	Winckworth Sherwood	43.0
71	70	Ashfords	42.2
72	76	Kingsley Napley	40.0
73	75	Hugh James*	38.5
74	74	Capsticks	38.3
75	N/A	Leigh Day	38.2
76	79	Michelmores	37.6
77	83	Veale Wasbrough Vizards	36.8
78	77	Ward Hadaway	35.9
79	84	Royds Withy King	35.8
80	91	Harbottle & Lewis	35.5
81	80	Russell-Cooke	34.9
82	82	Knights	34.9
83	81	Wedlake Bell	34.0
84	78	Bircham Dyson Bell	33.7
85	96	JMW	32.5
86	86	Cripps	31.7
87	94	Keystone Law	31.6
88	87	Brabners	31.4
89	95	MW Solicitors	31.3
=90	89	Harrison Clark Rickerbys	30.0
=90	88	Simpson Millar*	30.0
92	85	Thrings	29.5
93	90	Digby Brown*	29.0
94	102	Gordon Dadds	28.5
95	96	DMH Stallard	28.4
96	105	Thorntons	27.5
97	92	Sackers	27.0
98	98	Stevens & Bolton	26.9
99	119	Fletchers	26.8
100	99	Moore Blatch	26.8
101	93	Harper Macleod	26.5
102	103	Boodle Hatfield	26.1
103	109	Wiggin	26.0
104	100	Bates Wells Braithwaite	25.8
105	N/A	Joseph Hage Aaronson*	25.2
106	106	Wilkin Chapman	24.9
107	101	Geldards	24.8
108	104	Edwin Coe	24.3
109	107	Payne Hicks Beach	23.4
110	110	Anderson Strathern	22.7
111	107	Turcan Connell*	22.5
112	115	Fox Williams	22.0
113	111	Lester Aldridge	21.8
114	113	Morton Fraser	21.8
115	112	Thomson Snell & Passmore	21.0
116	118	Wright Hassall	20.6
117	114	Langleys	20.4
118	123	Howes Percival	20.1
119	116	Stephensons	19.9
120	117	Stephens Scown	19.7
121	128	Anthony Collins	19.5
122	120	Memery Crystal	19.2
123	122	Ashtons Legal	19.1
124	136	Hodge Jones & Allen	19.0
125	121	Pitmans	18.8
126	126	Collyer Bristow	18.3
127	125	Hewitsons	18.3
128	135	Stone King	17.9
129	124	MacRoberts	17.8
130	126	RadcliffesLeBrasseur*	17.5
131	129	Trethowans	17.5
132	133	IBB Solicitors	17.5
133	139	Taylor Vinters	17.3
134	131	TWM	17.2
135	130	Higgs & Sons	17.2
136	137	Lupton Fawcett	16.6
137	140	Lindsays	16.3
138	157	Shulmans	16.3
139	141	Tees Law	16.3
140	150	Express Solicitors	16.2
141	132	Birchall Blackburn Law	16.0
142	138	Gordons	16.0
143	134	Nelsons	15.9
144	144	Rosenblatt	15.8
145	168	Peters & Peters	15.7
146	147	Paris Smith	15.5
147	160	Cavendish Legal Group	15.0
147	N/A	Laytons*	15.0
147	145	Teacher Stern	15.0
150	153	Winn Solicitors	14.9
151	143	Fenwick Elliott	14.5
152	175	Clarion	14.5
153	158	Bott & Co	14.4
154	142	Anthony Gold Solicitors	14.4
155	145	Roythornes	14.3
156	164	Wilsons	14.3
157	152	Boyes Turner	14.3
158	193	Vardags	14.2
159	154	EMW	14.1
160	149	Kemp Little	14.1
161	186	Coffin Mew	14.0
162	163	DAS Law	14.0
163	154	Sintons	13.8
164	148	Goodman Derrick	13.7
165	156	Napthens	13.5
166	169	Brachers	13.5
166	173	Seddons	13.5
168	171	Kuits	13.2
169	160	Barlow Robbins	13.1
169	184	Flint Bishop	13.1
169	177	Wallace	13.1
172	164	Hamlins	13.0
173	151	Keebles	12.9
174	180	Ellisons	12.9
175	170	FBC Manby Bowdler	12.8
176	171	Ramsdens	12.8
177	162	Taylor & Emmet	12.6
178	166	Brethertons*	12.5
179	167	ASB law	12.3
180	178	Gillespie Macandrew	12.0
180	N/A	Hudgell Solicitors*	12.0
182	174	Wrigleys Solicitors	11.9
183	N/A	Chadwick Lawrence	11.8
184	159	Lee & Thompson	11.6
185	175	Hunters	11.6
186	184	Mayo Wynne Baxter	11.6
187	179	Pemberton Greenish	11.6
188	188	Porter Dodson	11.1
189	195	Schofield Sweeney	11.1
190	187	Muckle	11.0
191	183	Lanyon Bowdler	10.7
191	190	Simkins	10.7
193	182	Ledingham Chalmers	10.6
194	189	Morrisons Solicitors	10.5
195	191	Mundays	10.5
196	192	Drydensfairfax Solicitors*	10.0
196	181	Roberts Jackson*	10.0
196	N/A	Stowe Family Law*	10.0
199	194	BPE Solicitors	9.8
200	N/A	Druces	9.8