Fieldfisher
A guide to the law firm Fieldfisher: what it’s best known for, recent work highlights, what it pays, and its revenue and profitability.
Last updated:
December 10, 2024
A guide to the law firm Fieldfisher: what it’s best known for, recent work highlights, what it pays, and its revenue and profitability.
Fieldfisher is an international law firm headquartered in London.
It actually makes a point of describing itself as ‘European’ which is unique among City firms usually keen to emphasise the extent of their reach internationally whether or not they truly are ‘international’.
Semantics aside, Fieldfisher boasts 26 offices, concentrated in Europe but also with outposts in China and Silicon Valley. Within the UK, outside of its London HQ it also has a presence in Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast.
Traditionally a mid-sized firm, today Fieldfisher is regarded as a large player sitting just inside the top 25 biggest firms in the UK. Its network spans over 1,800 people in 12 countries, including over 220 associates and 150 partners in London alone.
While its origins go back to 1835, the firm had a steady and largely uneventful history until the late 20th century. Into the 2000s, the firm was known as a dependable if unspectacular mid-market player that was growing steadily and looking to expand into Europe.
In 2007, it made its first moves into Europe, opening offices in Brussels and Hamburg, before opening in Paris in the same year. Additional offices in Germany soon followed.
With a renewed focus on modernising and expanding its well-regarded IP and technology practice, in a 2014 freshen-up the firm dropped the ‘Waterhouse’ from its name to become known simply as ‘Fieldfisher’.
Since then, Fieldfisher has done well to position itself as a more modern, forward-looking firm. It moved its London HQ to a new site at Riverbank House in the City overlooking the Thames and looked to differentiate itself with the launch of several alternative legal services brands, including contract management solution Condor and Roscoe Reid, a specialist mass claims law firm.
Today, Fieldfisher positions itself as a specialist across four sectors: energy and natural resources, financial services, life sciences, and technology.
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Recent deal and industry highlights for Fieldfisher include:
HS2 High-speed Rail Project: Fieldfisher was appointed as one of two panel firms to HS2 Limited for all aspects of the £50 billion HS2 project. The firm’s Real Estate practice was nominated for 'Real Estate Team of the Year' at the Legal Business Awards 2023 which included recognition of its appointment to the HS2 panel.
Getty Images V Stability AI: In a ‘seminal’ AI case, Fieldfisher represented Getty Images in its claim against Stability AI, the creator of AI art tool Stable Diffusion, for copyright infringement. Getty alleged that Stability AI used its copyrighted library of images to train Stable Diffusion.
£1bn Relocation of Smithfield Market: In 2023, Fieldfisher advised the City of London Corporation on the £1 billion relocation of the centuries-old Smithfield Market in Farringdon to a new venue in Barking & Dagenham, Essex.
The best paid law firm partner in the City?: Fieldfisher is known for paying its ‘top of equity’ (its most senior equity partner) big money and significantly more than the Magic Circle firms that disclose the figure. In 2023, Fieldfisher’s highest-earning partner was paid £6.3 million. In 2023, the figure was £7.07 million.
Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards 2023: Fieldfisher was shortlisted for two categories at the FT’s Innovative Lawyer Awards 2023. The firm was nominated for ‘Innovation in Client Delivery’ for Fieldfisher X, one of its alternative legal services brands, and ‘Innovation in Adjacent Services’ for Fieldfisher Capital.
Fieldfisher is a full service corporate law firm. Its clients include companies, financial institutions, and public bodies. It is best known for its expertise in the following areas:
Information Technology: Fieldfisher has one of the largest technology and data practices in Europe, advising on transactions involving technology and complex digital transformation projects. It has a large office in Silicon Valley to help service its tech clients. Fieldfisher is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers for information technology and outsourcing.
Capital Markets: Fieldfisher has a market-leading equity capital markets team, particularly known for its work for AIM-listed company clients. It also has a strong derivatives practice. In January 2022, Fieldfisher was ranked as the leading legal adviser to FTSE AIM 100 companies. It has a Band 1 ranking by Chambers for AIM listings.
Energy and Natural Resources: Fieldfisher offers a full service energy and natural resources practice with expertise in oil and gas, conventional power, renewables, mining and energy commodities. It’s especially known for its work for mining clients and it has a Band 3 ranking by Chambers for its mining practice.
We use Chambers rankings to demonstrate a firm's strengths. Chambers is the most highly-regarded provider of law firm rankings in the legal industry. Law firms are ranked in bands from 1 (highest) to 6 (lowest) across a range of practice areas.
It's important to note that being ranked in any band at all is still considered a significant achievement.
Fieldfisher operates in the 'mid-market', competing with the likes of Osborne Clarke, Bird & Bird and Taylor Wessing.
Here’s what Fieldfisher pays its London trainees and newly qualified (NQ) lawyers:
Trainee First Year: £48,500
Trainee Second Year: £52,000
Newly Qualified (NQ): £95,000
We have a list of salaries paid by all of the UK’s top law firms here.
Fieldfisher is the 23rd biggest law firm in the UK by revenue. In 2023, its revenue was £370 million.
In 2023, its profit per equity partner (PEP) was £930,000.
In 2023, Fieldfisher’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) was £930,000.
This is the total amount of profit available for distribution among equity partners, divided by the number of equity partners at the firm.
This represents the average amount that equity partners are entitled to. Some will receive significantly more, some less. It depends on the firm’s profit-sharing formula and each partner’s seniority.
Fieldfisher takes on around 25 trainees each year.
Trainees complete four seats in different departments, each lasting six months.
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