Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) grew revenue a modest 4% to £1.36bn in its final full financial year before its merger with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.
The figure – a new high for the firm – was accompanied by record profit and profit per equity partner (PEP), which grew 9.5% to £486.9m and 8.6% to £1.4m respectively in the year ended 30 April 2025.
The results continue the trend of revenue and profit growth seen at many of HSF’s UK rivals with the financial reporting season in full swing, including Ashurst, which grew revenue 8% to £1.03bn against a 4% rise in PEP to £1.39m.
Justin D’Agostino, who was legacy HSF’s CEO before becoming global CEO of the merged firm, commented: “This is our best-ever financial performance, and marks 12 consecutive years of revenue growth – a very fitting final set of results for Herbert Smith Freehills.
“We are proud to have achieved growth across all regions despite significant macroeconomic challenges in many of our markets.”
D’Agostino pointed to the firm’s investments in Europe during the past financial year, including opening an office in Luxembourg to boost its private capital offering and adding a 10-lawyer corporate team including three partners from Orrick in Germany.
“Overall we made 23 lateral partner hires and promoted 19 new partners globally,” D’Agostino said.
“A major highlight of the past year was the combination between Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin. In previous years, we noted the importance of an expanded US presence – and we made it one of our highest strategic priorities. I am proud that we have turned that ambition into a reality.”
The merger to create HSF Kramer went live at the start of June, forming a firm with 2,700 lawyers across 26 offices globally, including around 120 partners from Kramer Levin.
Kramer Levin also rang in record numbers in its final pre-merger year, growing revenue 7.3% to $467.2m against a 25% jump in PEP to just over $3m, according to data published by The American Lawyer.
Standout work for HSF in FY25 included advising ResolutionLife on its $8.2bn sale to Nippon Life and Chemist Warehouse on its A$34bn merger with Sigma Healthcare.
On the disputes side, the firm secured a roughly $1bn win in the High Court of England and Wales for AerCap, the world’s largest aviation lessor, in claims under its aviation insurance policies relating to the loss of aircraft and engines in Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It also represented private capital firm TPG on a $13.8bn claim filed in the Commercial Court against it and 15 other defendants, and Mercedes-Benz in its defence of claims brought in relation to diesel NOx emissions, one of the largest consumer group actions before the English courts.
HSF Kramer said that over the coming years it would focus on growing its energy and tech capabilities globally, including in the US, as well as building its offering in bankruptcy and restructuring, class actions/disputes and private capital, and in practices with growing client demand where it has a strong global offering such as digital infrastructure, the defence sector, antitrust and strategic M&A.
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