Lovells' PEP rises 13 per cent in year before Hogan merger

This represents the firm’s best-ever PEP performance, narrowly beating its previous high of £661,000, which it achieved in 2007-08.

Global revenues grew by 2 per cent, with the London office contributing 43.3 per cent of fee income. Asia and the Middle East accounted for 9.7 per cent, Europe 42.7 per cent and the US 4.3 per cent.

The highest volume of income came from disputes work, which made up 34 per cent, or £184m, of total revenue, up from 33 per cent last year. The second biggest earner was corporate, which brought in 30 per cent of income, followed by finance at 19 per cent.

The number of staff has dropped on last year from 3,400 to 3,271, while the number of fee-earners fell from 1856 to 1785. The number of partners, however, grew from 349 to 359.

Hogan Lovells co-CEO David Harris, who was managing partner of Lovells, said: “At the end of the 2008-09 financial year, there was considerable market uncertainty.  The performance by Lovells LLP over the last financial year has demonstrated the benefits of having a broad practice, a quality client base and an established presence in the world’s leading major financial and commercial centres.”

He added: “Across the practice streams, dispute resolution experienced the largest growth, reflecting the stage of the economic cycle and the continued uplift in litigation activity.” 

Hogan Lovells, which went live in May, is estimated to have a turnover of £1.2bn ($1.8bn) - elevating it above Allen & Overy (A&O) in terms of revenue. The magic circle firm posted a 4 per cent drop in the last financial year, down to £1.051bn.