City law quartet post strong financial results 

2Birds, Macs, Simmons and Taylor Wessing

The 2024 law firm financial results season is gathering pace, with a raft of City outfits posting positive numbers.

Bird & Bird saw its revenues climb by more than 10% to €632 million (£545 million) in its 32nd consecutive year of growth, with net profit rising by 5.4% from £108.4 million to £114.3 million.

The firm’s profit per equity partner (PEP), reported in Euros, increased by a little over 8%, rising from €774,000 to €837,000 (approximately £704,300).

CEO Christian Bartsch said: “It’s been a positive year for the firm. The sectors that Bird & Bird chooses to operate in are being transformed and we are able to guide our clients through that transformation. Our five-year strategy has given us that momentum and we are poised to take advantage of it.”

Next up is Macfarlanes. The Silver Circle firm saw its profits jump by over 23% to £174 million, driven by a 13.7% increase in turnover, which reached £309 million. The firm’s PEP figure climbed a whopping 23.8% to £2.6 million.

Senior partner Sebastian Prichard Jones commented: “We were fortunate that our mix of practices saw high demand in 2023-24 in a challenging economic environment. We saw particularly strong performances from our transactional practices, especially with clients operating in the financial services space.”

Meanwhile, fellow City player Simmons & Simmons enjoyed a 10% increase in revenues to £574 million, which contributed to an 8% boost in profits, reaching £204 million. PEP increased from £1.001 million to £1.076 million, representing a 7% rise.

Simmons’ managing partner Jeremy Hoyland commented:

“These latest financial results demonstrate another year of growth from the firm in the face of a challenging market. The success we’ve seen over the last year is driven by our four sector strategy, our commitment to innovation, and our focus on premium work. The investments we’ve made right across the firm — in particular in our people — have also been crucial to our success. Today’s positive results also reflect how we’ve been able to adapt to the rapid advances in AI and technology. The firm is well placed to seize the opportunities of a changing legal market.”

Finally, Taylor Wessing saw global revenues climb to a record £481 million, with UK revenue contributing £246.6 million, thanks to an 8.6% increase from the previous year. Firm profits climbed more than 12% to £91.7 million.

The firm did not disclose its PEP figure, but Legal Cheek understands that it is now slightly over £900,000.

UK managing partner and global co-chair Shane Gleghorn commented:

“We are pleased to see strong growth across our offices, especially the progress in the UK and major European markets. That growth has been based on our position as a legal powerhouse in our core sectors of TMC, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Real Estate, Infrastructure and Energy, and Private Wealth, and our key practice areas. It has taken incredible hard work and focus by our people to secure this strong outcome and they are committed to achieving our ambitious objectives in the next three years.”