Average profit per partner of $1.6M at top UK law firms is less than in US, survey says
Elite law firms are doing well in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. But the seven-figure average profit per partner at top-10 law firms here is substantially higher than what their British counterparts bring in, a recent survey finds.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found that PPP at top-10 law firms in the United Kingdom was a million pounds, on average, during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times (reg. req.). That translates to about $1.6 million in U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate.
But at comparable top-10 law firms in the U.S., the average was nearly 30 percent higher.
Meanwhile, despite the difficult economic conditions of recent years, top 10 firms in the U.K. are seeing a comfortable increase in profit margins, in contrast to those farther down on the list.
“Against a challenging backdrop, 2013 could be seen as a turning point for the legal sector with the gap between best and worst performing firms widening further—and clear blue water between the Top 10 firms and the rest of the sector,” said partner David Snell, the head of PwC’s Law Firms Advisory Group, in a written statement.
See also:
ABAJournal.com (Oct. 2012): “Top 10 UK Law Firms Rake In Nearly Half of BigLaw Revenue, Could Gain Even More via Foreign Growth”
The Journal: “Mergers likely for 29% of North law companies”
