Shearman & Sterling

Revenue growth at Shearman & Sterling’s City office in 2012 outstripped that of the firm as a whole, with London posting a three per cent rise to $112.6m while firmwide turnover stood relatively still at $752m.

Growth in London revenue was accompanied by a healthy boost in lawyer numbers, with headcount growing by 28 per cent from 114 to 146. Most of the hires were at associate level as the office had hired a number of partners the previous year. Exits at partnership level in 2012 included the firm’s former London arbitration head David Reed, who moved to the London office of US rival Arnold & Porter in May.

The US firm’s London head Nicholas Buckworth told The Lawyer that drivers for growth in 2012 included the firm’s London high-yield, projects and M&A group, while private equity could be an “area of interest” for new hires in the current year.

Buckworth also pointed out, however, that it is hard to “pick apart” why the London office might have outperformed the firm as a whole because the US firm intentionally built a platform that concentrates on cross-border transactions.

Firmwide, lawyer headcount also increased in 2012, growing from 834 to 842.