Adam Smith, Esq.: "Productivity" In the UK Elite: Print This

The Lawyer's UK 100 listing will be out right after Labor Day, but we have an advance peek at the top 10 today. Linklaters is #1 at £410-million in revenue (US$738-million), up over 8% on strong corporate-department performance. Clifford Chance took second at £402-million, but up just 4%. Both Allen & Overy and Freshfields suffered declines in revenue, with A&O down just over 1% (£358-million) and Freshfields down 6% (£320-million). We'll have to await the full report to understand why.

Interestingly, 14 of the top 50 are US-headquartered.

Meanwhile, over at Bloomberg, there's a more analytic story that shows a reporter actually doing more than repackaging press releases. (Since the California courts have held that bloggers aren't journalists, I can say that without fear of revocation of my press credentials.) Bloomberg analyzed "productivity" of the top law firms, which they defined as revenue per employee (not per lawyer—per everyone). Linklaters again grabs #1 by a healthy margin but on this metric Clifford Chance is not second but fifth, with Freshfields taking its place as #2:

Revenue Per Employee at London's Top 20 Law Firms.

Law Firm                    Revenue      Headcount   Fees per
                           (Millions                 employee
                            of pounds)               (in pounds)

Linklaters                   805          4770         168,763
Freshfields Bruckhaus        780          5245         148,713
SJ Berwin                    122           870         140,229
Allen & Overy LLP            666          4766         139,739
Herbert Smith LLP            265          1930         137,305
Clifford Chance LLP          915          6700         136,567
Lovells                      366          2779         131,702
Ashurst                      201          1539         130,604
Berwin Leighton Paisner      121           938         128,997
Addleshaw Goddard            139          1173         118,499
Clyde & Co                   104           908         114,537
Norton Rose                  210          1850         113,513
Denton Wilde Sapte           154          1414         108,900
CMS Cameron McKenna          163          1533         106,327
Simmons & Simmons            196          1904         102,941
Pinsent Masons               151          1518          99,209
DLA Piper Rudnick*           450          4851          92,764
Eversheds                    303          3870          78,242
Hammonds                     100          1439          69,492
Irwin Mitchell               102          1677          61,187

Source: Bloomberg Survey


*DLA merged with U.S. firm Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP Jan. 1. The
firm's revenue and headcount figure reflects DLA's for fiscal 2005
plus Piper's proportionate to the part of fiscal 2005 after the
merger, not DLA's total headcount plus Piper's total headcount.


To contact the reporter on this story:
James Lumley in London at  jlumley1@bloomberg.com.

Curiously, Bloomberg reports that "Slaughter & May declined to say" what its revenue was, while The Lawyer pegs it at £257-million, up 20%. Different answers for legal as opposed to business reporters? If I become a journalist, I'll have to remember that distinction—or else just call back and ask for someone else.