Alex Ryan

Much ink is spilled about Generation Z and the challenges of recruiting and retaining them. As more and more members of the cohort born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s enter the legal profession, LB finds out what today’s more idealistic lawyers want from their careers and how they’re changing the profession

HFW has posted double-digit growth to break through the £250m revenue mark for the first time, with all key metrics rising as the firm sticks to its sector-focused strategy.

A&O Shearman banking heavyweight Philip Bowden, the former co-head of legacy A&O’s global banking practice, has left the newly merged firm to join Proskauer as part of a four-partner raid by the US firm.

A trio of Pinsent Masons international arbitration partners are set to leave the firm for Greenberg Traurig.

Legacy Allen & Overy saw revenue nudge up 3.4% in the last financial year before its transatlantic merger, against a surge in profits that took average PEP to £2.2m. A&O Shearman has announced that turnover for the legacy UK firm edged up a modest 3.4% to £2.2bn for the financial year ended 30 April 2024. The revenue increase is significantly lower than last year's uptick of 8%, which saw A&O cross the £2bn mark for the first time, becoming the first magic circle firm to do so. Clifford Chance joined it in the £2bn club a week later, with Linklaters only following suit

A clutch of major law firms have continued the trend for strong 2023-24 results, with Brodies, Shoosmiths, Clyde & Co and Watson Farley & Williams among the latest to reveal healthy financial figures.

Ashurst released its latest financial results today, with revenue up 9% to £961m, and PEP back up to a record high after a dip last year.

Cooley’s London managing partner Justin Stock has left the firm to join Akin as international technology practice head, along with two other partners.

Simmons & Simmons and Bird & Bird have both posted revenue growth of 10%, as major UK firms continue to report healthy results for the last financial year.

Macfarlanes posts 24% increase in PEP to £2.6m for 2023-24 as turnover climbs nearly 14%