Osborne Clarke increases 19 percent revenue

Osborne Clarke increases 19 percent revenue

In addition to up to a quarter of base salary, top 25 UK companies offer their employees 5 percent profit shares and performance bonuses.

A bumper set of financial results have been reported by Osborne Clarke for 2021/22, with worldwide revenues rising 19 percent from last year to €407m, against an 11 percent increase in US profit per equity partner to £796k.

Income increased by 20 percent to £199.1m from £166.4m, while profits increased 14 percent to £77.2m for the London-based firm.

As part of the restructuring deal, the firm increased cash resources to £45.8m, a 12 percent increase over last year, when it reported another good set of results, with UK PEP increasing by 16 percent against 7 percent revenue growth.

This release comes at the beginning of UK financial reporting season, so it sets a strong but not surprising benchmark for the top 50 global law firms considering the strength of global deal markets last year and in the first quarter of 2022. Top 50 UK law firms reported an average revenue increase of 6.8 percent against a PEP increase of 19.8 percent according to the Global Legal Post UK Law Firm Financial Results Tracker for 2021.

The company's international CEO, Omar Al-Nuaimi, expressed his pride in the outstanding results achieved by Osborne Clarke over the past year. While market conditions have been favourable, Osborne Clarke's business strategy is delivering stronger results and solidifying client relationships.

Al-Nuaimi stressed that the firm's US arm is essential to it developing greater client relationships globally and also highlighted the firm's addition of 30 lawyers in Warsaw in late March to launch its first office in CEE as a significant step forward in the firm's European expansion.

Meanwhile, lateral hires have driven significant growth, our approach to ESG has been strengthened and we are investing in technologies that will stimulate the firm's ongoing digital transformation," he said.

There were increases in revenue from all four of the firm's service lines: business transactions revenues rose by 27 percent; project, real estate and finance fees increased by 25 percent; advisory revenues rose by 15 percent and disputes and risk revenues increased by 8 percent.

Across all areas of the firm's UK business, firm income grew significantly across real estate, finance, third-party logistics, life sciences, healthcare and transport. The company said other sectors were "broadly flat," but ahead of strong results for 2020/21.

On the basis of the results achieved, Osborne Clarke has once again decided to award its UK-based employees a profit share of 5 percent based on monthly salaries. It is expected that the minimum payment will increase from £1,500 to £2,500 this year. A performance bonus is also being increased to up to 25 percent of base salaries and will be paid in July.

There have been several recent lateral hires at the firm in the UK, including three energy and infrastructure partners from Orrick in March, among them sector guru John Deacon. Last month, BDB Pitmans added to its pensions department a five-strong team led by partners David Hosford and Chris Netiatis, bringing the office's headcount in pensions law to 20.

In addition to adding eight partners in the UK last month, the firm also promoted eight existing partners in its corporate/M&A, TMT, energy and utilities, real estate and financial services groups.

In December 2021, the firm added tax partner Claudio Grisanti to its Milan office from Foglia & Partners. Prior to that, the firm promoted five partners in its Amsterdam office and another five in its Berlin office to partner. Anne Vrignaud, a partner in finance and Joanna Peltzman, an environmental law specialist, have both been recruited by the company in Paris from King & Spalding and DS Avocats.

Osborne Clarke, one of the few UK firms that have made similar commitments to the Science Based Targets Initiative, announced its support to the long-term Net Zero Standard earlier this month. It efforts to improve diversity and inclusion over 2021 have also seen it jump 33 places to rank 48th out of 203 on the UK Social Mobility Index and rocket 159 places in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, now ranking 113th out of 403 and 16th of 34 in the legal sector.