LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae is a firm on a mission and it plans on getting there in a hurry. The firm had a sensational 2005, with the London office leading the way with a staggering 42.5 per cent increase in turnover.
Firmwide, LeBoeuf rebounded strongly from a sluggish 2004 to post a 2005 turnover of £241.8m ($440m), a rise of 23 per cent. Compared with the 4.8 per cent rise in 2004, the magnitude of LeBoeuf's shift into overdrive is clear.

The London office was buoyed by numerous lateral hires during the year into both its core practice areas of insurance/reinsurance and energy, and non-core areas such as corporate, tax and real estate. The recruitment drive paid off with spectacular results as the office posted a turnover figure of £26.8m ($48.8m) for 2005.

The recruitment did not slow during 2006 and indications are that the revenue growth hasn't either, making LeBoeuf a firm to watch in London.
Despite a well-known penchant for paying big-dollar packages to secure the lateral talent it wants, LeBoeuf has maintained a solid growth in its average profit per equity partner figure, posting a 14 per cent increase for 2005 to £728,000 ($1.3m).

Globally, the firm remains US-centric with 11 offices, mainly spread across the Eastern regions. It also boasts a strong Russia and CIS practice, led by the ever-mobile Brian Zimbler, and caps off its energy offering with a presence in Johannesburg and in the Middle East in Riyadh. In China, the firm is present only in Beijing, where it focuses on regulatory work.

The firm has established a strong relationship with the China National Petroleum Corporation and advised it on its £2.3bn ($4.18bn) acquisition of PetroKazakhstan in August 2005 - a deal that at the time of going to press was the largest-ever foreign acquisition by a Chinese company.

• The Top 100: 51-75