Revenue at Freshfields surged by 18% last year, propelling it beyond the £2bn mark to hit £2.1bn, aided by a 26% jump in US fee income.

News of the strong performance follows the filing by the UK Magic Circle firm of its LLP accounts for its 2023/4 financial year.

The firm’s decision in 2023 to eschew the convention for leading UK firms to publish their headline results after their 30 April year-ends means details of its financial performance have only just emerged, six months after UK rivals A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance and Linklaters reported their results.

Freshfields’ revenue growth puts it at the head of the pack in terms of year-on-year performance, helped by revived deal markets which saw it rise one place to sixth in the 2024 global M&A adviser table, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group, advising on 264 deals worth $286.4bn. 

The London-based firm has put its decision not to publish its results ahead of the filing of its accounts down to a desire not to be compared with its Magic Circle rivals. Nevertheless, it ended the year with the same turnover as Linklaters and just behind legacy Allen & Overy (£2.2bn) and Clifford Chance (£2.3bn), making comparisons inevitable.

Freshfields’ accounts, meanwhile, record profit before tax falling 8% from £726.3 to £668.9m. However, that was due to an accounting change which saw the firm adopt international financial reporting standard 17, affecting how annuities are reported. Profit before partners’ annuities increased by 36%.

A breakdown of the firm’s revenue shows ongoing investment in its US arm, which began in earnest in 2020 when the firm opened a Silicon Valley office, appearing to pay off.

While US turnover still accounted for a relatively small proportion of the firm’s overall turnover (18%), it increased by 26% to £391.1m, making it the fastest growing of the four stated geographical markets. European revenue was up by 20% to £1.6bn while Asia revenue declined by 11% to £126.5m. 

The Middle East and North Africa accounted for a modest £42.4m, up by 24% from the previous year.

Freshfields and its key UK rivals have been investing heavily in the US in recent years with competition stepping up markedly last year with the creation of A&O Shearman, which went live in May when A&O joined forces with New York’s Shearman & Sterling.

That move has leapfrogged A&O Shearman to the head of the pack in terms of revenue and headcount, but it remains to be seen whether the deal will be transformative for the firm.

Publicly available data tracked by Pirical shows that Freshfields’ US lawyer headcount grew by 28% over the last 12 months to 446, not far behind A&O Shearman’s count of 525 US lawyers, making it the second-largest US practice of the four global UK Magic Circle firms.