UK law firm financial results tracker – 2021
How have the top practices fared over the Covid-19 pandemic? Monitor the 20/21 results as they are posted
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Few could have predicted at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic quite how well many of the largest business law firms would perform. Many looked back to the impact of the financial crisis of 2007-8, and its aftermath, expecting a similar wave of redundancies to follow. And yet, as consultant Tony Williams pointed out in a Q&A with GLP in April last year, the circumstances were in fact very different. "There was a massive liquidity crisis; the banks didn’t trust each other to lend money," he said. "We don’t have that. There is no shortage of liquidity with the risk of the whole economy grinding to a halt."
After a brief lull, deals came storming back, and law firms learned how to adapt to lockdown. Many ended up benefiting from lockdown-associated cost savings, at least in the short term, although the debate over the sustainability of remote working continues.
Keep track of how the UK's largest firms have performed during the pandemic with the GLP UK law firm financial results tracker.
| Date | Firm | Revenue (£m) | % Change | PEP (£k) | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 August | DAC Beachcroft | 275 | 7% | 700k | 19% |
| 17 August | Withers | 243.7 | 11% | 660k | 32% |
| 12 August | Irwin Mitchell | 275.8 | 2% | n/a | n/a |
| 12 August | Shoosmiths | 167.9 | 9% | 658k | 41% |
| 11 August | Linklaters | 1,674 | 2.1% | 1,773k | 9.9% |
| 9 August | Travers Smith | 185.7 | 15.4% | 1,220k | 21.5% |
| 9 August | HFW | 200.2 | 2.6% | 683k | 29.8% |
| 2 August | DLA Piper | 2,166 | 2% | 1,190k | 7.7% |
| 30 July | Addleshaw Goddard | 321 | 12% | 849k | 23% |
| 30 July | Osborne Clarke | 341(€) | 7% | n/a | n/a |
| 30 July | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 1,590 | 5% | 1,910k | 5% |
| 29 July | Clyde & Co | 639.6 | 2% | 715k | 7.5% |
| 27 July | Watson Farley & Williams | 177 | (1.4%) | 533k | (4.2%) |
| 27 July | Macfarlanes | 260 | 10% | 2,000k | 9.2% |
| 27 July | Ince | 100.2 | 4% | n/a | n/a |
| 22 July | RPC | 136 | 23% | 634k | 49.5% |
| 21 July | DWF | 400.9 | 12% | n/a | n/a |
| 21 July | Ashurst | 711 | 10% | 1,038k | 15% |
| 20 July | Clifford Chance | 1,828 | 1% | 1,850k | 9% |
| 16 July | Simmons & Simmons | 437 | 12% | 980k | 30% |
| 16 July | Dentons UK, Ireland and Middle East | 221.1 | 1% | n/a | n/a |
| 15 July | Taylor Wessing UK | 175.5 | 12% | 685k | 18% |
| 15 July | Allen & Overy | 1,770 | 5% | 1,900k | 17% |
| 14 July | Knights | 74 | 41% | n/a | n/a |
| 13 July | Eversheds Sutherland International | 629 | 6% | 984k | 9% |
| 13 July | Herbert Smith Freehillls | 1,038 | 5% | 1,099k | 28% |
| 13 July | FieldFisher | 290 | 6% | 860k | 22% |
| 13 July | Stephenson Harwood | 209 | (1.9%) | 685k | n/a |
| 9 July | Kennedys | 264 | 11% | n/a | n/a |
| 5 July | Pinsent Masons | 503 | 1.5% | 636k | 16% |
| 5 July | CMS UK LLP | 567 | 0.17% | n/a | n/a |
UK Top 50 average revenue and PEP change to date*
| Revenue | 6.8% |
| PEP | 19.8% |
*Calculated as the average of the reported percentage increases
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