Legal Business 100 reflects a market turned on its head

The UK legal market has seen significant changes this year as national law firms outperform those at the top according to a new report.

The Legal Business 100 (LB100) indicated that total revenue was down one per cent in the financial year 2014/15 to £20.64 billion.

In addition the number of lawyers has fallen by two per cent to 64,024.

But the report also shows average turnover is up by six per cent to £112 million for firms ranked between 26-50.

Profits per equity partner (PEP) went up 10 per cent to £453,000 while revenue per lawyer (RPL) fell by three per cent to £248,000.

Firms with a focus on international markets had a quieter year with average turnover down two per cent to £639m for those ranked in the top 25.

However, mean PEP rose by four per cent to £783,000.

Amongst the Magic Circle, Allen & Overy performed the best – seeing an uptick in turnover of four per cent to £1.281 bn.

Meanwhile Pinsent Masons saw PEP rise by 33 per cent to £538,000 as well as turnover go up 12 per cent to £362.4m.

Ashurst and Norton Rose Fulbright saw a decline in turnover while Bird & Bird and Eversheds’ results remained constant.

Speaking to Legal Business, Eversheds chief executive Bryan Hughes said it was difficult to get a clear picture of the market based on revenue growth.

He said: “There is no clear market trend because when you see lots of mergers and consolidation it is hard to see what is organic and what is just aggregation.

“It is fair to say that some firms have on the revenue line got bigger growth than us, the reasons for that I’m not sure.”