The full 2019 financial rankings of the UK’s top 200 law firms have been revealed in the latest The Lawyer UK 200 report.
Brexit uncertainties and fears of a coming recession continue to weigh on the UK economy, but well-hedged and well-managed law firms are in good shape to benefit from new opportunities, suggests The Lawyer‘s latest research into the business health of the UK’s top law firms.
Many lawyers like to put an upbeat spin on events, with the phrase ‘cautiously optimistic’ a long-time mantra among more than a few law firm leaders. The astonishing political events in the UK of the past few months have tested that optimism, cautious or otherwise, to the limit.
As this year’s The Lawyer UK 200 report was going to press, the political turbulence caused by Brexit was reaching unprecedented levels, with Parliament prorogued, the Prime Minister accused of lying to the Queen, and the outcome of a potentially pivotal Supreme Court ruling hotly anticipated. All the while, Brexit’s 31 October deadline clock continued to tick away in the background.
From a business of law perspective, the fact that the UK’s position regarding the EU continues to hang in the balance has created an environment in which deals are being held back or aborted; businesses are jettisoning the country and the City in favour of safer continental harbours; and the pound continues to plummet.
It is in this relentlessly gloomy context that the financial results of several of the UK’s largest law firms during 2018/19 continue to defy gravity.
But the caveat to this apparently barnstorming story is that the growth, and market share, of the UK’s largest firms by revenue has been anything but evenly spread between them. Indeed, an astonishing 91.4 per cent (£24.1bn) of the entire top 100 revenue was generated by the firms in the top half of the ranking. This fact alone speaks volumes about the ongoing fragmented nature of the legal services market.
COMING SOON: The 2020 editions of The Lawyer UK 200: The Top Firms and the UK 200: The Independents are coming soon.
The global pandemic has changed the world in 2020 and the legal market has not been immune. This year’s UK 200 reflects that reality. It includes unmatched data and insight on the impact of the crisis on the UK’s leading law firms and the sector as a whole. Understand UK Top 100 firms’ responses to the pandemic, benchmark the top 100 largest firms, and analyse the international market growth rate and the impact of Brexit on firms’ expansion strategies.
The top 200 UK law firms 2019 by revenue
Rank 2019 | Firm | Revenue 2018/19 (£m) |
1 | ![]() |
1,946.8 |
2 | ![]() |
1,693.0 |
3 | ![]() |
1,628.7 |
4 | ![]() |
1,627.0 |
5 | ![]() |
1,596.0 |
6 | ![]() |
1,501.0 |
7 | ![]() |
1,472.0 |
8 | ![]() |
1,203.7 |
9 | ![]() |
965.7 |
10 | ![]() |
895.6 |
11 | BCLP | 675.7 |
12 | Ashurst | 641.0 |
13 | Clyde & Co | 611.0 |
14 | Slaughter and May | 501.3 |
15 | Pinsent Masons | 482.0 |
16 | Gowling WLG | 461.7 |
17 | Simmons & Simmons | 374.4 |
18 | Bird & Bird | 361.0 |
19 | Womble Bond Dickinson | 359.8 |
20 | Taylor Wessing | 339.7 |
21 | Addleshaw Goddard | 275.4 |
22 | DWF | 272.4 |
23 | Osborne Clarke | 268.6 |
24 | Irwin Mitchell | 263.0 |
25 | DAC Beachcroft | 242.7 |
26 | Fieldfisher | 242.0 |
27 | Macfarlanes | 217.0 |
28 | Kennedys | 216.0 |
29 | Stephenson Harwood | 213.0 |
30 | Withers | 193.2 |
31 | HFW | 178.1 |
32 | Mishcon de Reya | 177.8 |
33 | Watson Farley & Williams | 172.3 |
34 | Travers Smith | 162.5 |
35 | Slater and Gordon | 155.9 |
36 | Charles Russell Speechlys | 154.3 |
37 | Shoosmiths | 137.6 |
38 | Mills & Reeve | 110.9 |
39 | RPC | 108.6 |
40 | BLM | 106.4 |
41 | Trowers & Hamlins | 105.2 |
42 | Gateley | 103.5 |
43 | Weightmans | 97.3 |
44 | Burges Salmon | 94.6 |
45 | Hill Dickinson | 90.5 |
46 | Freeths | 89.8 |
47 | TLT | 87.6 |
48 | Keoghs | 82.0 |
49 | Penningtons Manches | 79.5 |
50 | Browne Jacobson | 77.6 |
51 | Brodies | 76.9 |
52 | Shakespeare Martineau | 76.8 |
53 | Blake Morgan | 70.0 |
54 | Stewarts | 69.1 |
55 | Farrer & Co | 68.7 |
56 | Lewis Silkin | 59.0 |
57 | Plexus Legal | 58.6 |
58 | Burness Paull | 58.5 |
59 | Forsters | 56.5 |
60 | Howard Kennedy | 56.0 |
61 | Shepherd & Wedderburn | 55.7 |
62 | Birketts | 54.4 |
63 | Fladgate | 53.3 |
64 | Knights | 52.7 |
65 | Ince | 52.6 |
66 | Hugh James | 49.5 |
67 | Clarke Willmott | 49.4 |
68 | Walker Morris | 49.1 |
69 | Foot Anstey | 47.2 |
70 | Bevan Brittan | 46.0 |
71 | Bristows | 45.6 |
72 | Dickson Minto | 45.0 |
73 | Ashfords | 45.0 |
74 | BDB Pitmans | 44.0 |
75 | Winckworth Sherwood | 43.2 |
76 | Kingsley Napley | 42.8 |
77 | Keystone Law | 42.7 |
78 | Capsticks | 42.1 |
79 | Veale Wasbrough Vizards | 39.5 |
80 | Michelmores | 39.1 |
81 | Leigh Day | 39.0 |
82 | Harbottle & Lewis | 38.5 |
83 | JMW | 38.3 |
84 | Ward Hadaway | 37.7 |
85 | Royds Withy King | 37.6 |
86 | Cripps Pemberton Greenish | 36.8 |
87 | Russell-Cooke | 35.7 |
88 | Wedlake Bell | 35.4 |
89 | Minster Law | 35.1 |
90 | Brabners | 33.1 |
91 | Devonshires | 33.0 |
92 | Digby Brown | 32.0 |
93 | Wiggin | 31.5 |
94 | Harrison Clark Rickerbys | 31.0 |
94 | Sackers | 31.0 |
96 | DMH Stallard | 30.1 |
97 | Thrings | 30.0 |
98 | MW Solicitors | 29.5 |
99 | Thorntons | 29.5 |
100 | Fletchers | 29.4 |
101 | Bates Wells Braithwaite | 29.4 |
102 | Harper Macleod | 29.0 |
103 | Boodle Hatfield | 28.7 |
104 | Stevens & Bolton | 28.3 |
105 | Moore Blatch | 26.2 |
106 | Wilkin Chapman | 25.7 |
107 | Geldards | 25.2 |
108 | Payne Hicks Beach | 24.6 |
109 | Memery Crystal | 24.1 |
110 | Turcan Connell | 24.0 |
111 | Edwin Coe | 23.7 |
112 | Joseph Hage Aaronson | 23.6 |
113 | Gunnercooke | 23.3 |
114 | Anderson Strathern | 23.0 |
115 | Fox Williams | 22.4 |
116 | Thomson Snell & Passmore | 22.0 |
117 | Morton Fraser | 21.8 |
118 | Wright Hassall | 21.3 |
119 | Lester Aldridge | 21.3 |
120 | Express Solicitors | 21.3 |
121 | Howes Percival | 21.1 |
122 | Langleys | 20.6 |
123 | Ashtons Legal | 20.6 |
124 | Simpson Millar | 20.5 |
125 | Anthony Collins | 20.2 |
126 | Stephens Scown | 20.1 |
127 | Peters & Peters | 19.8 |
128 | Stone King | 19.8 |
129 | Taylor Vinters | 19.4 |
130 | IBB Solicitors | 18.9 |
131 | Higgs & Sons | 18.7 |
132 | Collyer Bristow | 18.7 |
133 | MacRoberts | 18.6 |
134 | Vardags | 18.6 |
135 | Stephensons | 18.3 |
136 | Trethowans | 18.1 |
137 | Hewitsons | 18.0 |
138 | Fenwick Elliott | 18.0 |
139 | Hodge Jones & Allen | 17.8 |
140 | Winn Solicitors | 17.8 |
141 | Shulmans | 17.6 |
142 | Tees Law | 17.6 |
143 | Clarion | 17.4 |
144 | TWM | 17.4 |
145 | Forbes Solicitors | 17.2 |
146 | Gordons | 17.1 |
147 | Nelsons | 17.1 |
148 | RadcliffesLeBrasseur | 17.0 |
149 | Paris Smith | 17.0 |
150 | DAS Law | 16.9 |
151 | Teacher Stern | 16.8 |
152 | Bott & Co | 16.5 |
153 | Kemp Little | 16.5 |
154 | Lindsays | 16.4 |
155 | Switalskis | 16.1 |
156 | Birchall Blackburn Law | 16.0 |
157 | Lupton Fawcett | 15.7 |
158 | Boyes Turner | 15.5 |
159 | Goodman Derrick | 15.3 |
160 | Sintons | 15.2 |
161 | Roythornes | 15.0 |
162 | Enyo Law | 15.0 |
163 | EMW | 14.9 |
164 | Ramsdens | 14.9 |
165 | Wilsons | 14.8 |
166 | Coffin Mew | 14.7 |
167 | Brachers | 14.7 |
168 | Flint Bishop | 14.4 |
169 | Seddons | 14.4 |
170 | Anthony Gold Solicitors | 14.3 |
171 | Napthens | 14.1 |
172 | Ellisons | 13.9 |
173 | Laytons | 13.5 |
174 | Blacks | 13.3 |
175 | Kuits | 13.2 |
176 | FBC Manby Bowdler | 13.1 |
177 | Barlow Robbins | 13.4 |
178 | Gillespie Macandrew | 13.0 |
179 | Muckle | 13.0 |
180 | Taylor & Emmet | 13.0 |
181 | Schofield Sweeney | 12.7 |
182 | Hamlins | 12.7 |
183 | Chadwick Lawrence | 12.7 |
184 | Keebles | 12.7 |
185 | Cavendish Legal Group | 12.6 |
186 | Sills & Betteridge | 12.6 |
187 | Lee & Thompson | 12.6 |
188 | Rosenblatt | 12.5 |
189 | Wrigleys Solicitors | 12.5 |
190 | ASB Law | 12.5 |
191 | Brethertons | 12.5 |
192 | Wallace | 12.2 |
193 | Stowe Family Law | 12.1 |
194 | Lanyon Bowdler | 12.1 |
195 | Mayo Wynne Baxter | 11.8 |
196 | Porter Dodson | 11.6 |
197 | Ledingham Chalmers | 11.6 |
198 | Hunters | 11.5 |
199 | Druces | 11.4 |
200 | Morrisons Solicitors | 11.1 |