Withers' profits soared to £83.6m in FY2026, an increase of nearly 30% on the year before, as revenue at the private client specialist rose 10.7% to £357.5m.
The 28.6% jump in profit fuelled a 26.2% increase in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £903k.
The London-based firm noted that its revenue had risen 17.8% over the past two years, with PEP up by 53.3% as it followed a strategy of remaining independent and focusing on its core practice advising wealthy individuals and families, as well as their businesses and philanthropic foundations.
The firm also pointed to a drive to raise the firm's performance by its newly installed CEO, Ceri Vokes, who took from veteran leader Margaret Robertson at the start of July after a transition period.
Vokes commented: "We have delivered an outstanding set of results, with all parts of our business performing strongly this year. An increase in profitability of more than 50% over the last two years reflects the quality of our people, our clients and our strategy. We look forward to building on this strong position with ambition and a clear sense of purpose."
Key hires in the last financial year include former Sotheby’s chair Mari-Claudia Jiménez, who joined as head of its newly formed art and advisory practice in New York. Withers also launched a New York employment practice in January after hiring a two-partner team from Outten & Golden, and in Singapore, hired Simmons & Simmons partner Mohammed Reza as head of international arbitration at Withers KhattarWong.
Last July the firm also promoted 16 lawyers to the partnership, in an expanded round that saw 10 promotions in the US across areas including international tax planning, trust and estate litigation, family law and aircraft sales.
However, earlier this month, Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) hired a six-partner private client team to launch in the US with offices in New York and New Haven, Connecticut.
During Robertson's 25 years at the helm of Withers, the firm grew into a 650-lawyer business underpinned by its 2002 merger with US firm Bergman Horowitz & Reynolds, which was based in New Haven, Connecticut. Since then, it has expanded from the East Coast to open offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Texas while also opening in Milan, Geneva and Padua in Europe, as well as in Hong Kong in 2008 and in Tokyo in 2015.
In 2019, the firm also merged with its Singapore ally to form Withers KhattarWong, which has grown to become the fourth-largest international law firm in the city-state, and last year announced a non-exclusive association with the Australasian accounting and advisory business Bentleys.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
