Top-50 law firm financial results 2026: growth holds, but the gap is widening

The 2025/26 financial results season is well underway, and the headline read is straightforward: most large UK law firms are still growing. Look past the top line, though, and the numbers say something more interesting about how differently firms are being run.

Growth is broad, but far from even

At the top of the table, A&O Shearman reported around £2.8bn of revenue — down roughly 3% — while profit per equity partner rose about 12% to £2.2m and reported profit climbed 14% to £1.2bn. That combination of softer revenue and stronger profit is the clearest signal in the whole table: leverage, pricing discipline and cost control are doing more work than volume.

Clifford Chance posted around £2.6bn, up about 9%, with PEP of £2.3m. Linklaters came in at £2.47bn, up 6.8%, with PEP of £2.48m and profit up 11.6%. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, in its first full year following combination, reported £1.8bn and £633.9m of profit.

Below that tier, the percentage moves get bigger. Norton Rose Fulbright reported £763.5m, up 25%. Knights grew 28% to £207.7m, with profit up 19% — a reminder that the consolidator model is still buying growth. HF was up 29% to £89m. Addleshaw Goddard added 17% to reach £644m, with profit up by the same margin.

Where the pressure shows

Not every firm is enjoying the same conditions. Pinsent Masons grew revenue 3.3% to £703m but saw PEP fall 7.7% to £747,000. Clyde & Co added 2% to £857m while profit fell almost 10%. Irwin Mitchell grew 6.4% to £337.5m, but reported profit dropped 26.3%. Stewarts grew revenue 10% while PEP slipped 12.6%.

That pattern — revenue up, profit down — usually points at one of three things: investment in technology and infrastructure, a heavier partner count relative to fee income, or work mix drifting toward lower-margin instructions. For anyone running a firm outside the top 50, it is worth noting that turnover growth on its own no longer reads as success to lenders, insurers or lateral hires.

The mid-market is quietly compounding

Some of the steadiest performances sit in the £70m-£250m band. Simmons & Simmons grew 12% to £690m with profit up 14%. TLT reported £208m, up 11%, with profit up 11%. Bevan Brittan grew 17% to £101.2m. Keystone Law added 17.9% to £115.2m with profit up 25.6%, though PEP fell 10.5% as the platform scaled. Foot Anstey grew 7% to £82m with profit up 12%, and Kingsley Napley added 8% to £77.3m.

Macfarlanes remains the profitability outlier, with £389.5m of revenue and PEP of £3.1m — higher than any firm several times its size. It is the strongest argument in the table that focus beats scale when the work is genuinely premium.

What to compare against last year

Set the 2025/26 numbers against the prior year and the direction of travel becomes clearer. Linklaters moved from £2.32bn to £2.47bn. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer went from £1.358bn to £1.8bn on the back of combination. Ashurst moved from £1.034bn to £1.152bn. Addleshaw Goddard went from £550.9m to £644m in two consecutive double-digit years. Knights has gone from £162m to £207.7m. Shoosmiths edged from £217.2m to £221.4m, a slower year after several strong ones.

Clyde & Co is close to flat across both years — £854m then £857m — which for a firm of that size means the composition of the business is changing even if the total is not.

What firm leaders should take from it

Three practical reads for practice management teams:

• Profit per equity partner is the number that moves. Several firms grew revenue while PEP fell. If your equity is growing faster than your profit, the model is diluting.
• Consolidators are still paying for scale. The jumps at Knights, HF and Norton Rose Fulbright are not organic-only stories. Expect continued acquisition pressure on strong regional firms.
• Margin, not turnover, is the recruitment currency. Lateral partners read PEP and profit trends before they read revenue.

The table will keep filling out over the coming weeks as remaining firms report. The pattern so far suggests a market that is still growing overall, but where the distance between well-run and merely busy firms is getting harder to disguise.