Mid-size elite dominant as magic circle bounces back

This year's provisional financial results for The Lawyer's top 50 firms confirm the emergence of a mid-tier elite.

Addleshaw Goddard, Ber-win Leighton Paisner (BLP), Clyde & Co, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Macfarlanes, SJ Berwin, led by David Harrel, and Travers Smith have all posted excellent results. The traditional transactional firms have had stellar years.

Travers Smith is due to report a 23 per cent rise in turnover and a 30 per cent hike in profit. Macfarlanes is the only one of the group to break the £800,000 barrier for average profit per equity partner (PEP). Partners at what may well be the best-run firm in the City picked up an average of £810,000 last year.

BLP, led by Neville Eisenberg, continued its winning streak, with a PEP of £575,000, while DLA Piper also broke through £500,000 with a PEP of £575,000.

Among the big four, Linklaters dominates. The firm confounded almost everyone in the market by not only coming out with PEP in ex-cess of £800,000, but bumping that up even further a few weeks later to £845,000.

Slaughter and May confirmed its position as the elite domestic UK practice by turning in its best set of results for years. The firm is the only one not to release financial information, but internal sources have indicated that average PEP has leapt by 28 per cent to more than £1m.

However, the top 50 also reveals a group of firms that are continuing to struggle. Hammonds has suffered one of the largest drops in PEP, with PEP plummeting by 20 per cent to £160,000. Denton Wilde Sapte has also had a dismal year, with PEP falling from £325,000 to £275,000.

Something of a surprise is the firm that has fallen most - Lovells. Average PEP has sunk well below £500,000, back to little more than where it was in 2000 at £440,000.

The Lawyer’s top 50

The Lawyer Top 50 is an exclusive preview of The Lawyer UK 100 Annual Report, published in September. Slaughter and May is confirmed as the UK’s most profitable firm with average PEP up 28 per cent to more than £1m; Linklaters overtakes Freshfields in PEP and turnover; and Lovells’ profits sink 22 per cent