The Lawyer's City 50 throws up some surprising results. The magic circle may take 29 per cent of market share, but it is not a uniform picture. Who would have thought that Clifford Chance and Linklaters would put so much space between them and Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer?

The Magic Circle
Clifford Chance's London office showed a strong performance, increasing its revenue from £386m to break the £400m barrier at £402m. It reversed last year's disappointing performance, which showed turnover down 3 per cent from 2003's £386m. Revenue per partner (RPP) was also up slightly, from £1.7m to £1.8m. But Linklaters topped a spectacular 2005 by vaulting over Clifford Chance's London revenue, reaching £410m. Even more pleasingly, its RPP rose from £2m to £2.2m.

But the other two members of the magic circle did not do so well. Allen & Overy's (A&O) London figures faltered, dropping £5m from £363m to £358m. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer did even worse, with revenue falling 6 per cent, from £341m to £320m, and RPP dropping from £2m to £1.6m. While Freshfields has maintained a strong level of profitability, London's poor performance underlines the firm's current stasis; its corporate revenue in London has not grown for four years. The contrast with Linklaters could not be more uncomfortable. The performance is even more puzzling when you consider that in 2004 it was Freshfields that enjoyed the best London performance out of the magic circle, that year posting figures which increased from £330m to £341m.

The Silver Circle
Slaughter and May, meanwhile, cruised to a 19.5 per cent increase in London revenue. At £2.3m RPP, it is one of the few firms (along with Linklaters) to give the US firms a run for their money when it comes to billings.

The silver circle and the UK mid-sizers all showed strong increases, something which only serves to emphasise their increasing dominance. Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) was up 18.1 per cent in London to £120.5m, although its RPP of £861,000 does not yet match the big boys. Single-office Macfarlanes generated a 10.4 per cent increase in turnover, from £67m to £74m. Travers Smith was up from £44.5m to £54m, with RPP rising from £873,000 to a more respectable £1.1m. SJ Berwin's London figure leapt 9.9 per cent, from £89.8m to £98.7m, while Olswang posted an 11.3 per cent revenue rise, from £53m to £59m.

Transatlantic firms
Last year The Lawyer published the top 40 firms in London rather than the top 50, so market share comparisons are not always obvious. But the share enjoyed by the transatlantic firms in the capital is growing.

There are now 14 such firms in the City 50, and only three of them - Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, Jones Day, and Dechert - have got there through merger. The rest have grown organically, from the venerable Baker & McKenzie to the expansionist Latham & Watkins. When you ponder that transatlantic mergers are being ever more seriously discussed, then the City 50 will start having an even stronger US accent in the next few years.

Even more tellingly, the transatlantic firms' RPPs in London are the highest. They dominate the RPP table; out of the top 10, 7 are US-headquartered. The best among them is Latham & Watkins, which even beats Sullivan & Cromwell. Even with the high-yield market faltering, Latham's growth has been unstoppable.

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft also posts a mouthwatering RPP figure of £2.7m. On these numbers, White & Case - for all its strides in profitability and its growing market share in finance - still has some work to do: its RPP of £1.2m is among the lowest of the US firms'.