Gide posts 5 per cent turnover drop for 2010

The results follow a tough year for the French firm, which undertook a strategic review in October that saw the closure of five offices in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Gide had originally predicted revenue for 2010 would be flat compared to 2009. The firm made €250m in 2007 but has struggled to reproduce those results during the financial crisis.

The firm’s London office also saw a drop in revenues between 2009 and 2010. Local managing partner Colin Mercer said the office turnover of €14m represented a €1.5m decrease compared to the previous year.

He said the office had fewer lawyers now than it did in 2007, when London made €22m, and the result was “inevitable”.

“In terms of profitability we’re definitely in a better position than we were back then,” Mercer added. He declined to reveal what the office’s profit figures were.

“I’m expecting 2011 to be back to 2009 turnover levels, but achieved with a smaller number of lawyers and therefore more efficient,” Mercer said.