The recent spate of law firm mergers may have the unexpected result of reducing the level of publicly available data on Australian revenue performance.
A divergence of approaches to reporting revenues came to light as ALB was collecting FY2013 revenue figures for the annual ALB Top Firms survey. Several firms involved in global mergers declined to provide an Australian revenue figure, instead providing a summary of financials for the global entity. While this global summary usually incorporates profit figures and is therefore more comprehensive than the data traditionally provided by Australian firms, it remains to be seen whether this compensates for the loss of Australia-specific data.
Meanwhile, the reporting season continues with results from Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith Freehills, who reported £1.19 billion and £471.2 million in revenues respectively. However, the figure for HSF represents seven months of operation only, reflecting a transition to an April financial year.
ALLEN & OVERY
Revenue: £1.19 billion (up 0.6% on FY2012)
Net income: £497 million (up 2.2%)
Total number of partners: 525
Offices: 42
HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS
Note: Results cover period October 1 2012 to 30 April 2013
Revenue: £471.2 million
Net income: £137.2 million
Total number of partners: 450
Total number of full equity partners: 316
Total number of fee earners: 2,323 (excludes paralegals)
New offices in last 12 months: New York, Frankfurt, Berlin and Seoul
