City law firms flourish despite Brexit uncertainty

Britain’s biggest law firms are enjoying a rise in revenue, despite the dampening effect of Brexit uncertainty. The four biggest firms – known as the ‘magic circle’ – have all now posted positive results for the past financial year.

The last to report was Linklaters, which increased revenue by 4.8% in the financial year 2017-18, to £1.52bn. Profit per equity partner fell slightly to £1.54m.

The biggest upswing was recorded by Allen & Overy, where revenue rose by 4% to £1.57bn. Profit per equity partner was £1.64m. Clifford Chance increased revenue by 5% to £1.62bn, and its profit per equity partner rose by 16% to £1.6m.

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At Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, revenue grew by 5% to £1.4bn, with profit per equity partner up by 12% to £1.73m.

Income has been bolstered by two developments: legal work to bring global companies into compliance with increasingly complex legislation, and an increase of corporate takeovers.

Andrew Ballheimer, managing partner at Allen & Overy, told the Financial Times that his firm had benefited from a “bull run” in cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

However, says the paper, the results could have been even better. Analysis by accountants Smith & Williamson found the top 50 law firms in the UK now have to wait an average of 122 days between billing and payment.

When these “lock-up” debts are added to work for which they have not yet billed, they are missing out on a total of £6.8bn, the company said.

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