During the 1990s the legal profession evolved at breathtaking speed. On the back of a boom in transactional work such as mergers, stockmarket flotations and major projects, many of the UK’s top commercial law firms grew at an unprecedented rate. Turnover at magic circle firm Allen & Overy, for example, grew from £112m in 1994 to £576m last year.
It was not just the largest firms that benefited from the favourable economic conditions, with a number of small and medium-sized practices growing by upwards of 25% year-on-year. This expansion was translated in many cases into record profits, with the top firms enjoying average profits-per-partner in excess of £750,000.
