UK law firm financial results tracker – 2021

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