Linklaters and Clifford Chance increased their lead on the rest of the chasing pack in The Lawyer's City 50 rankings for 2005-06 for the second year running. The global elite (Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) now represents 22.2 per cent of the City market, but it is not a uniform picture, with Freshfields failing to convert the success of its unstoppable corporate practice into improved revenue.

Linklaters' London office held tight to its position at the top of the rankings after a second consecutive year of strong growth. An 11.7 per cent increase in revenue saw the firm break the £450m mark just a year after vaulting Clifford Chance's London revenue with an 8.3 per cent revenue hike. Disappointingly, though, revenue per partner (RPP) remained static at £2.28m.

Clifford Chance took advantage of the blip to make up ground, closing the gap with Linklaters' London revenue to just £2m. This resulted in an impressive 18.5 per cent increase in RPP to £2.11m, up from £1.78m the previous year, pushing Clifford Chance into the City's top 10 ranked by RPP. But Freshfields failed to keep pace, falling further behind after reporting a negligible 1.5 per cent increase in London revenue to £325m.

The City top 50 reported average growth in gross revenue of 12 per cent in 2005-06. However, the UK elite could not match the City average, with Ashurst, Herbert Smith and Slaughter and May reporting 7 per cent, 9 per cent and 10 per cent growth in gross London revenue respectively. All three firms chalked the results up to the buoyant corporate and M&A markets.

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy could not even manage single-figure growth, reporting an almost flat figure of £390m in London revenue. The firm's flailing results have been largely attributed to its weaker corporate offering and unusually long lockstep.

Instead it was the silver circle that outshone the rest of the City off the back of the rocketing private equity market. Macfarlanes improved City revenue by 21.6 per cent, while SJ Berwin and Travers Smith reported 20.2 per cent and 22.4 per cent growth respectively.

Several of the chasing pack fared just as well. Berwin Leighton Paisner achieved an impressive 20 per cent growth in London, while Olswang improved its City revenue by 22 per cent.

Twelve transatlantic firms made it into the City top 50 in 2005-06, down from 14 the previous year. But the international firms still saw the most rapid growth, with their combined gross revenue rising by 31.3 per cent to take 14.4 per cent of market share.

White & Case reported the most rapid growth of the City top 50, with London gross revenue up by 28 per cent to £71.3m. London senior partner Peter Finlay joined the bandwagon in attributing the results to the resurgent M&A, structured finance and capital markets sectors.

The international firms' RPPs in London have remained the highest. Seven US-headquartered firms dominated the top 10. Sullivan & Cromwell returned to poll position in 2005-06, reporting an RPP of £3.27m to push the previous year's top-earner, West Coast rival Latham & Watkins, down the rankings. Sullivan's 16-partner London office saw its revenue break the £50m barrier for the first time.