Shearman & Sterling is the latest of a raft of leading US firms to report a strikingly healthy set of figures for the last financial year.

As we reveal in this month’s issue, the firm’s average profits per partner have rebounded by 26% following its disappointing set of results for 2001. Buoyed by their strong litigation departments and a wave of restructuring work, an array of US firms have been reporting solid rises in profits.