The most successful law firms are the firms with the greatest published rate rises, according to Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group. The group analysed recent billing trends and concluded that the top performers, whilst applying discounts to published rates, were realising rates ahead of less aggressively priced competitors. According to the research, rates at the elite firms rose to 4.4 per cent compared with 3.3 per cent for the rest. The latest figures revealed that the rates increased 5.6 per cent, versus 4.2 per cent for the broader sample whilst realisation rates increased 5.7 per cent for the most successful firms. This compared with 2.9 per cent for the broader sample.