Top 10 UK firms pull away from the pack

The top 10 UK law firms have widened the gap between themselves and the rest of the top 100 firms, according to the Law Survey 2012 by PricewaterhouseCoopers. These top 10 firms - including Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy and Linklaters - accounted for 44 percent of the total fee income for the top 100 firms, and posted profit margins that were on average 11 percent higher than the next 15 firms. David Snell, partner and leader of the professional partnerships advisory group at PwC, said the "big differentiator" for the largest firms is their higher chargeable hours, premium pricing and tightly managed fee earner headcount. The larger firms also saw profit stream from their international offices, with half of top 25 firms now sourcing more than 40 percent of fee income from international operations.

Top 10 UK firms pull away from the pack telegraph.co.uk Wed, Oct 31, 2012