| Turnover: | £294.2m |
| Profit per equity partner: | £920,000 |
| Revenue per lawyer: | 508,000 |
| Total number of lawyers: | 605 |
Despite double-digit growth in both turnover and profit - including a staggering 67.5 per cent rise in its London office revenue to reach $56m (£32m) - New York firm Debevoise & Plimpton fell three places in the global rankings from its position last year.
This perhaps says more about the firm's astounding financial year to December 2004 than its performance in 2005. In 2004 Debevoise posted 17 per cent growth in turnover and a 20 per cent profit hike. Its record in 2005 was still robust by any standard: revenue rose by 12 per cent to £294.2m ($535.4m), while average profit per equity partner (PEP) went up by 11 per cent, to £920,000 ($1.67m). The firm is one of the last in New York to operate a pure lockstep with no bonuses.
London was the firm's success story in 2005, accounting for £32m in revenue and 10 per cent of the firm's profit, but there was also stellar growth across Debevoise's European offices. Private equity in particular, such as the firm's work representing Providence Equity Partners on the $15.3bn (£8.8bn) takeover of Danish national telecoms carrier TDC, bumped up profit.
The Moscow office was also a lucrative source of work. Debevoise acted on the £6bn ($10.9bn) London Stock Exchange flotation of Russian steel manufacturer Novolipetsk, the largest IPO in the UK for five years.
International arbitration has been one area enjoying some choice lateral hires in Europe. First Debevoise's French office made the unusual move of tempting Shearman & Sterling partner Frederick Davis away from New York to head up Debevoise's international arbitration practice. Then the London office netted the well-known partner Peter Rees from Norton Rose. These hires filled the gap left by Arthur Marriott QC, who went to kick-start LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae's arbitration offering, pocketing $2m (£1.09m) a year in the process.
A boost to profit for 2006 financial year should come from the bankruptcy proceedings of Delta Airlines, from which the firm took home $9.5m (£5.22m) in fees and $187,000 (£102,000) in expenses. It also landed top-drawer restructuring work in Europe, acting for the European Investment Bank in the Eurotunnel shake-up.
As far as major M&A work goes, the firm's major corporate deals over the past 12 months included acting for Phelps Dodge on the proposed $17.7bn (£9.39bn) acquisition of Canadian nickel producer Inco.
Only three partners out of the firm's total of 137 are based in Asia, where Debevoise has offices in Shanghai (opened in 2004) and Hong Kong. That said, Debevoise's Moscow office only has two partners and that has not hampered its success.
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