WEIL Gotshal & Manges saw a return to form in 2005, turning around the previous year’s disappointing figures. Global revenue jumped by 12 per cent to $1.02bn (£558.5m) successfully brushing 2004’s disappointing 0.7 per cent uplift under the carpet.

PEP also increased, by 8 per cent, to break the £1m mark, far better than the similarly poor 0.7 per cent increase in 2004.

The revenue result was just ahead of the New Yorkheadquartered firm’s budgeted 10 per cent global growth rate, although the London office lagged behind, reporting an increase of just 4 per cent.

Corporate remains a key focus for the firm along with its customary weighty US litigation practice. This is in line with its aim to become the global leader in private equity, an ambition bolstered by London hires, which included Marco Compagnoni from Lovells in early 2006.

Weil has 20 offices globally, including 10 in the US and seven in Continental Europe. The Warsaw office has made impressive headway following Poland’s EU succession, making a solid name advising on Polish IPOs following its work on PKO’s £1.2bn flotation in November 2004.

But during 2005 Paris was arguably the firm’s key focus, racking up a spate of both partner hires and losses. Most notably the presence was bolstered with the star hire of Allen & Overy’s leveraged finance head Jonathan Nabarro in December 2005, which followed the hire of restructuring partner Jean-Dominique Daudier de Cassini from Wilkie Farr & Gallagher.

Paris managing partner Claude Serra was appointed to a newly created position on the firm’s management committee in December 2005, confirming the office’s importance to Weil’s global strategy.

In Asia Weil is in both Shanghai and Singapore, although the latter is staffed by just one full-time associate, with a further partner and associate shared with Shanghai. Weil is currently considering expanding into both Beijing and Hong Kong.