The malaise that continues to plague transactional markets across Western Europe—where M&A activity has slumped to its lowest point since 2009—left most of the United Kingdom’s elite Magic Circle law firms struggling to simply hold revenue steady during the most recent fiscal year.
Allen & Overy and Linklaters, for example, both saw their gross revenue inch up by less than 1 percent in the 12-month period that ended April 30, 2013, while Clifford Chance suffered a 2 percent dip to its top line. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, on the other hand, bucked the trend by recording impressive gains in both revenue and profits. (The fifth Magic Circle firm, Slaughter and May, does not disclose its financial results.)
