The Top 25 Biggest Law Firms In The UK
Published:
January 26, 2024
Last updated:
March 25, 2024
We have more than 25 years of experience in corporate law, business and finance.
We’ve worked at leading law firms advising the world’s biggest banks and global corporations on complex legal issues and, in our business lives, we’ve instructed law firms as paying clients.
One of the most important skills for the modern lawyer is commercial awareness.
It’s this skill that separates the good lawyers from the great lawyers.
It’s this skill that will get you promoted at your law firm.
It’s this skill that will mean that the best clients will instruct you on the best matters.
This guide breaks down commercial awareness for lawyers. We’ll look at:
We hope you find it useful.
The UK is home to some of the biggest and most prestigious law firms in the world.
In 2022, UK law firms collectively generated £43.7 billion in revenue, 75% of which came from the top 100 firms, which predominantly focus on corporate and commercial law, advising clients including companies, financial institutions and governments on a broad range of legal issues.
The table below lists the top 25 biggest law firms in the UK by revenue.
Profit per equity partner (PEP) is also shown for each firm. This is a widely used measure in the legal industry which divides a firm’s distributable annual profits by the number of equity partners at the firm. The higher a firm’s PEP, the more prestigious the firm is generally considered to be.
The ranking criteria is set out below the table.
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Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addleshaw Goddard | £52,000 | £56,000 | £100,000 |
| Akin Gump | £57,500 | £62,500 | £169,235 |
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Baker McKenzie | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Bird & Bird | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Bristows | £46,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Burges Salmon | £45,000 | £47,000 | £68,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | £47,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | £57,500 | £62,500 | £160,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clyde & Co | £42,000 | £44,500 | £85,000 |
| CMS | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Cooley | £52,000 | £57,000 | £150,000 |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £170,000 |
| Debevoise & Plimpton | £55,000 | £60,000 | £160,500 |
| Dechert | £50,000 | £55,000 | £145,000 |
| Dentons | £50,000 | £54,000 | £95,000 |
| DLA Piper | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Farrer & Co | £45,000 | £48,000 | £83,000 |
| Fieldfisher | £46,000 | £49,500 | £95,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Fried Frank | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gateley | £36,000 | £38,500 | £75,000 |
| Gibson Dunn | £60,000 | £65,000 | £180,000 |
| Goodwin Procter | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gowling WLG | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| HFW | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Hill Dickinson | £39,000 | £41,000 | £72,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Irwin Mitchell | £40,000 | £42,000 | £75,000 |
| Jones Day | £54,000 | £63,000 | £145,000 |
| K&L Gates | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Kennedys | £41,000 | £44,000 | £85,000 |
| King & Spalding | £50,000 | £55,000 | £156,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | £60,000 | £65,000 | £169,235 |
| Latham & Watkins | £50,000 | £55,000 | £169,235 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Mayer Brown | £50,000 | £55,000 | £120,000 |
| McDermott Will & Emery | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Milbank | £57,500 | £62,500 | £174,418 |
| Mills & Reeve | £30,000 | £32,000 | £58,000 |
| Mischon de Reya | £47,500 | £52,500 | £95,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | £42,500 | £53,000 | £120,000 |
| Orrick | £55,000 | £60,000 | £140,000 |
| Osborne Clarke | £54,500 | £56,000 | £94,000 |
| Paul Hastings | £55,000 | £60,000 | £173,000 |
| Paul Weiss | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | £45,000 | £47,000 | £75,000 |
| Pinsent Masons | £47,000 | £51,500 | £97,000 |
| Quinn Emanuel | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Reed Smith | £50,000 | £55,000 | £125,000 |
| Ropes & Gray | £60,000 | £65,000 | £165,000 |
| RPC | £44,000 | £48,000 | £85,000 |
| Shearman & Sterling | £55,000 | £60,000 | £145,000 |
| Shoosmiths | £43,000 | £45,000 | £97,000 |
| Sidley Austin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £175,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons | £52,000 | £57,000 | £120,000 |
| Skadden | £58,000 | £63,000 | £173,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | £47,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | £50,000 | £55,000 | £100,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| Taylor Wessing | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| TLT | £42,500 | £45,500 | £75,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | £45,000 | £49,000 | £80,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £173,822 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | £50,000 | £55,000 | £102,000 |
| Weightmans | £32,000 | £34,000 | £60,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| White & Case | £62,000 | £67,000 | £175,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | £55,000 | £60,000 | £150,000 |
| Withers | £45,000 | £49,000 | £90,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | £42,000 | £44,000 | £78,000 |
Rank | Law Firm | Revenue | Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper* | £2,833,000,000 | £2,140,000 |
| 2 | Hogan Lovells* | £2,158,000,000 | £2,204,000 |
| 3 | Allen & Overy | £2,100,000,000 | £1,820,000 |
| 4 | Clifford Chance | £2,060,000,000 | £2,000,000 |
| 5 | Linklaters | £1,900,000,000 | £1,779,000 |
| 6 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £1,840,000,000 | £2,090,000 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fulbright* | £1,640,000,000 | £820,000 |
| 8 | CMS** | £1,591,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills | £1,186,000,000 | £1,173,000 |
| 10 | Ashurst | £879,000,000 | £1,170,000 |
| 11 | Clyde & Co | £788,600,000 | £708,000 |
| 12 | Eversheds Sutherland | £730,900,000 | £1,290,000 |
| 13 | Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner* | £664,000,000 | £740,000 |
| 14 | Pinsent Masons | £605,900,000 | £797,000 |
| 15 | Slaughter and May*** | £572,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 16 | Simmons & Simmons | £521,000,000 | £1,002,000 |
| 17 | Bird & Bird** | £495,000,000 | £669,000 |
| 18 | DWF | £451,600,000 | Not disclosed |
| 19 | Addleshaw Goddard | £443,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 20 | Taylor Wessing | £439,000,000 | £809,000*** |
| 21 | Womble Bond Dickinson* | £417,000,000 | £550,000 |
| 22 | Osborne Clarke** | £377,000,000 | £687,000 |
| 23 | Fieldfisher | £370,000,000 | £930,000 |
| 24 | Kennedys | £313,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 25 | Macfarlanes | £296,600,000 | £2,100,000 |
All of the firms listed are either headquartered in the UK, or otherwise were formed by the merger of a UK-headquartered firm with a foreign firm but which continues to have a significant presence in the UK (they may be co-headquartered in different countries like Hogan Lovells, for example, with its HQ in London and Washington).
Revenue figures are for the financial year ending in 2023, except that 2022 figures are used for BCLP, Kennedys, and Womble Bond Dickinson.
Slaughter and May remains a general partnership and does not publish firm-wide accounts. Its revenue figure is estimated.
Eversheds figures are for the firm's UK arm only.
*Indicates that a firm’s revenues are reported in USD in which case the figure has been converted into GBP.
**Indicates that a firm’s revenues are reported in EUR in which case the figure has been converted into GBP.
***Indicates an estimated figure.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
We gather firms' financial data from a range of sources, including accounts filings at Companies House (almost all law firms are Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and must publicly file their annual accounts), law firm websites and press releases, and from other reputable sources online.
We regularly update our database but if you spot anything that is incorrect or out of date, please let us know by emailing us at newsletter@nonbillable.co.uk.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
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