Many would argue that Linklaters is the best all-rounder in the City, with clients including BP and Vodafone as well as Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland. It may not win quite as many high-profile M&A mandates as Slaughter and May or Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer or have quite the finance reputation of A&O or CC, but it has outperformed its magic circle rivals in recent years.
Its financial results speak for themselves. Under outgoing managing partner Tony Angel, the firm has grown rapidly. It is on track to break the £1bn mark in revenues this year after reporting a 22% increase for the first half of the financial year, with turnover hitting £536m. And its Silk Street offices house some of the best-paid lawyers in the City, with average profits per partner jumping 26% last year to make it the only major UK firm besides Slaughters averaging more than £1m per partner.
