Strong performance despite “tightening market conditions”
Magic Circle firm Freshfields has reported a 10% uptick in revenues in its latest financial results.
This takes the firm’s revenues for the year ending 30 April 2022 to £1.7 billion, its sixth consecutive year of growth. Profit per equity partner (PEP) has also risen to £2.07 million, up from £1.91 million.
Despite “tightening market conditions globally”, Rick van Aerssen, Freshfields’ managing partner, considered this year’s financials a “robust set of results for the firm, reflecting our continued commitment to deliver for clients around the world”.
He added: “Our achievements over the past 12 months are testament to the dedication of colleagues across our global network, who continue to set a high bar for advisory work in Freshfields’ core areas of litigation, M&A and regulatory. We look forward to pushing on further this year to meet the strategic goals we’ve set across our core markets, and our ongoing expansion in growth markets such as the U.S.”.
The firm revealed that the headcount in their Silicon Valley office, launched in 2020, has doubled. Freshfields also appointed capital markets lawyer Sarah K. Solum as its new US Managing Partner in August 2021. The firm did not provide a breakdown of the profits per region.
Freshfields results follow Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy who both recorded partner profits around the £2 million mark. A&O has seen particular success in the US that made up over 50% of its revenue growth.