Latham & Watkins observes revenue rise

Latham & Watkins observes revenue rise

Despite a 26percent rise in PEP to $5.71m, Los Angeles giants haul in $5.49bn in income

The firm saw a 26.7percent increase in turnover to reach $5.49bn last year, boosting its top line by more than $1bn. This marks the first time a law firm has surpassed the $5bn revenue threshold.

By comparably robust margins, profit-per-equity-partner (PEP), which rose from $4.52m in 2020, increased 26.2percent to $5.71m.

The performance from last year is an improvement in 2020 when revenue increased 15percent and PEP increased 20percent as a result of record deal markets. Accordingly, Latham stands out among the U.S. firms that have published their results so far.

In addition to Hogan Lovells, which reported a 13percent spike in revenue to $2.6bn, White & Case, which saw profits rise 20percent to $2.87bn and Sidley Austin, which saw earnings jump 13.5percent to $2.795bn, a few other top US firms have announced their results already.

While Kirkland & Ellis hasn't yet been able to match the Los Angeles giant's record revenue of more than $5bn, it is only a matter of time in the coming months as it appears inevitable that Chicago will report equally impressive 2021 results. A similar performance by Kirkland in 2020 would see it generate revenue of more than $6 billion compared to $4.83 billion this year.

"2021 will prove to be another successful year" for the firm, claimed Rich Trobman, chair and managing partner at Lasham & Watkins.

Our global capabilities were combined with the best talent, knowledge and experience to drive positive results for our customers across multiple industries. Our strategy is to execute on our investments, execute on our global platform and deliver high-quality client service in the coming months," he said.

In Refinitiv's rankings of the top M&A legal advisors for 2021, the firm was ranked second to Sullivan & Cromwell, working on 943 deals worth $604bn in a year when global M&A turnover reached a record $5.9 trillion. Last year, it consulted on 997 deals worth $572 billion, putting it ahead of rival Kirkland & Ellis.

As a result, the number of lawyers at Latham increased by more than 200 to 3,078 last year, while their revenue per lawyer went up by 17.7percent to $1.78m.

The new additions included a trio from DLA Piper and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati who joined in September to spearhead the opening of Latham's new office in Austin, Texas, just one month after adding a trio of partners from Shearman & Sterling and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to boost its Singapore energy and infrastructure industry group.

The firm hired the former head of the US Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, Ian Conner, as a partner in the firm's litigation and trial department in Washington DC in June, along with M&A partners Ingo Strauss and Heiko Gotsche from Baker McKenzie in Düsseldorf.

During its largest-ever M&A round, Latham promoted 19 lawyers to partner last February and another 44 got the partner award last October.

The London office made partners to thirteen individuals throughout the year, which saw investments in seven new laterals focusing mainly on the corporate, capital markets and finance teams.

Following Bruce Bell from Linklaters in March the firm hired Paul Dolman from Travers Smith as a private equity specialist, Alex Martin from Weil Gotshal & Manges, Tom Bartlett from White & Case and Shawn Anderson from Kirkland & Ellis as a capital markets expert. Helen Lethaby came over from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in June to join the tax team and James Lloyd joined our litigation and trial team in October from Orrick.

Latham's COO LeeAnn Black said the firm's culture of teamwork, commitment to innovation and customer service will be crucial to its success in 2021.

As 2022 gets underway, we continue to see strong momentum across the platform and remain geared to helping our clients with their most complicated matters, she said.

In the US, the firm has hired Sarah Fortt from Vinson & Elkins and Betty Huber from Davis Polk to lead its environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice. The two have also been appointed to co-chair the firm's ESG team, along with London partner Paul Davies.