White & Case’s revenue broke through the $3bn mark in 2024 climbing by 12.5% to $3.3bn fuelling a 27% jump in profit per equity partner (PEP) to $4m.

The New York firm’s results represent a marked acceleration from its growth in 2023, when revenue increased by 4.3% against a 12.7% rise in PEP, reflecting a revival in global deal markets in 2023.

Revenue per lawyer was up 10.6% to $1.3m and net income increased by 19.5% to $1.7bn while expenses climbed by 5.9% to $1.6bn.

The firm also released numbers for its London arm, where revenue increased by 25% to around $554m. Over the last five years, the office’s revenue has increased by 64%.

Vice-chair Oliver Brettle said 2024 had been a “successful year” for the firm “with strong financial results across the board in all three regions”.

Pointing to the fact that 52% of the firm’s work had a cross-border element, he added: “Overall we feel that last year reflects our continued focus on advising leading global clients on their very important, complex cross-border matters and we think we are uniquely placed to play to our strengths as a global firm.”

While the firm did not add to its network of 44 offices in 30 countries last year, it secured 47 partner-level lateral hires across its network. 

However, while the total partner count increased by 1.3% to 698, there was a marked decline of 7% in the number of equity partners to 349. Overall, the firm recorded a 1.5% increase in total lawyers over 2024 to 2,598.

Brettle said the firm remained committed to its practice in China, where a string of US firms have closed offices in recent months, but pointed to its US arm and particularly New York as a focus for investment in 2025.

In terms of the outlook for 2025, he said the firm’s January performance was up on 2024 and was “feeling pretty positive for the year ahead”.

The firm’s strong start to 2025 will have been helped by its role advising Calpine last month on its $26.6bn acquisition by Constellation Energy to create the largest low-emission energy supplier in the US.

Meanwhile, its investment in London continued with the eye-catching hire of Travers’ tech and commercial transactions head Dan Reavill.

A report published by Wells Fargo last month recorded 12.5% revenue growth in 2024 for all firms reporting to its year-end survey, up from 6% last year and reaching growth rates only surpassed in 2021 (14%).