UK Law Firms by Revenue 2026: The 25 Biggest, Ranked

Last updated: 9 November 2026. Figures come from the firms’ own results announcements and from reporting in the Law Gazette, Legal Business, Legal Cheek, the Global Legal Post and City AM. Most cover the financial year to 30 April 2026; where a firm’s year ends on another date, the table says so. The Lawyer UK200 and Legal Business LB100 tables are paywalled, so we have built this list only from figures we could check.

Short answer: On revenue for the year to April 2026, A&O Shearman is the UK’s biggest law firm at about £2.8bn ($3.7bn), ahead of Clifford Chance (£2.6bn) and Linklaters (£2.47bn). Freshfields earned £2.25bn in its last filed year but no longer publishes results. HSF Kramer posted £1.8bn in its first merged year, and Ashurst is the sixth UK firm above £1bn.

Key takeaways

• Five UK-based firms reported revenue of £1.8bn or more, and Ashurst crossed £1.15bn in its last year before combining with Perkins Coie. Below that, the gap to seventh place (Clyde & Co, £857m) is wide.
• Macfarlanes again paid the highest average profit per equity partner (PEP) of any firm that publishes it, at £3.1m, ahead of Linklaters (£2.48m) and Clifford Chance (£2.3m).
• Growth was uneven. Addleshaw Goddard (17%), Simmons & Simmons (12%) and Ashurst (11%) grew fastest among the larger firms, while A&O Shearman was flat in dollars and Stephenson Harwood shrank 2%.
• The ranking leaves out Slaughter and May, which does not publish figures, and global firms such as DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells and Norton Rose Fulbright that report in dollars on a calendar year. US firms’ London offices are not included either.

Which are the biggest law firms in the UK by revenue in 2026?

The table ranks 25 UK-headquartered firms (or the UK or international arm, where that is the figure the firm reports) by latest published revenue. For dollar or euro reporters we give the sterling figure published alongside it. PEP is average profit per equity partner.

Just outside the top 25, Burges Salmon reported revenue of £197.2m for the year to 30 April 2026, up 11%, according to Legal Business. For context, the Legal Business LB100 put the combined revenue of the UK’s 100 largest firms at £40.15bn for 2024-25, nearly double the figure of ten years earlier.

How did the magic circle firms perform?

The magic circle is the informal name for five London firms: A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy), Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters and Slaughter and May. Three of them published full results this year, and their stories were different.

• A&O Shearman said revenue was “in line with the prior year in U.S. dollar terms” at $3.7bn (£2.8bn), down from £2.9bn in sterling. Profit before tax rose 14% to $1.6bn and PEP rose 12% to $2.9m (£2.2m), according to the firm’s results release of 16 July 2026.
• Clifford Chance reported record figures on 22 July 2026: revenue up 9% to £2.6bn, partnership profit up 11% to £1.05bn and PEP up 9% to £2.3m, as set out in its announcement.
• Linklaters grew revenue 6.8% to £2.47bn, with pre-tax profit of about £1.2bn and PEP up 11.4% to £2.48m. It said US revenue rose 39% and Asia 36%, as Legal Business reported.
• Freshfields stopped releasing trading figures to the media in 2023. Its accounts for the year to 30 April 2025 showed income of about £2.25bn and a pre-tax surplus of £656.8m, down from £668.9m, as Legal Cheek reported in December 2025. Its 2025/26 figures will not be public until its next accounts are filed.
• Slaughter and May is a traditional partnership rather than an LLP and does not publish revenue or profit, so it cannot be ranked from verified figures.

Our explainer on what Big Law means covers how these firms are run and how they compare with the largest US firms.

Why are DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells and Norton Rose Fulbright not in the main table?

All three have large London offices and long English roots, but they now report as global firms, in US dollars and on a calendar year, which makes a like-for-like ranking against April year-end UK firms misleading. The same applies to Dentons, whose UK, Ireland and Middle East arm reports separately. We list them here instead, with the latest figures we could verify, alongside other big names whose 2025/26 numbers we could not find.

On sterling equivalents, DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells would sit near the top of any list, but that would mix different years, currencies and geographies.

What about US law firms in London?

Many of the highest-paying firms in the City are American: Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Paul Weiss, Skadden and others. They report global revenue in dollars and rarely publish a London figure, so we have not included them. Where you see London revenue for US firms in the legal press, it is usually an estimate, and The Lawyer’s US firms in London table sits behind a paywall. For the global picture, see our breakdown of the Am Law 100 2026, where the biggest US firms report far more revenue than any UK firm.

The US firms’ main effect on UK firms shows up in pay. Legal Cheek reported on 21 July 2026 that Quinn Emanuel still pays newly qualified (NQ) solicitors in London £189,000, against £150,000 at the magic circle firms. Macfarlanes and Baker McKenzie both moved to £150,000 in 2026. Our guide to first-year associate salaries in 2026 compares New York and London pay in more detail.

Which mergers changed the UK rankings?

Three transatlantic combinations have reshaped the top of the market, and a fourth is about to show up in the numbers.

• A&O Shearman (Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling, May 2024). The 2025/26 results were its second full year. Flat dollar revenue alongside 14% profit growth suggests the firm has prioritised margins over size.
• Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin, June 2025). Its first combined results, for the year to 30 April 2026, include 11 months of Kramer Levin and show revenue of $2.4bn (£1.8bn), profit of £633.9m and PEP of about £1.5m, according to Legal Cheek. In its last year alone, HSF had revenue of £1.36bn. Our earlier report on the HSF and Kramer Levin merger covers the deal itself.
• Ashurst Perkins Coie. Ashurst’s £1.152bn was its tenth straight year of growth and its last full year before the combination with Perkins Coie went live in June 2026. The firm has said its first full reporting period as Ashurst Perkins Coie will come in 2028. Legal Cheek put combined revenue at over $2.7bn. See our explainer on the Ashurst Perkins Coie merger.
• Winston Taylor. Taylor Wessing’s UK partnership combined with Chicago-based Winston & Strawn in 2026. The Global Legal Post reported combined revenue in the region of $1.6bn when the deal was announced.

Mergers make growth figures hard to read: most of HSF Kramer’s jump of more than £400m came from adding Kramer Levin.

What does PEP tell you, and why do some firms not publish it?

Profit per equity partner is net profit divided by the number of full equity partners. It is easy to move: a firm can raise PEP by shrinking its equity partnership or moving partners onto salaried or fixed-share terms. That is why Mishcon de Reya dropped PEP as a published metric in 2023, and why several national firms in the table disclose only net profit.

This year’s PEP figures show the spread clearly. Macfarlanes, with £389.5m of revenue, paid £3.1m per equity partner, more than Clifford Chance on a fraction of the revenue. At the other end, Pinsent Masons, with nearly twice Macfarlanes’ turnover, reported PEP of £740k after what Legal Business called a “bumper year of investments”. Partner pay depends on where a lawyer sits in the law firm hierarchy, and averages hide wide gaps inside the same firm.

How should you read these revenue figures?

• Year ends differ. Most large firms close on 30 April, but Macfarlanes, Fieldfisher, Kennedys and Shoosmiths close on 31 March, Travers Smith on 30 June and CMS on 31 December.
• Currencies move. A&O Shearman’s revenue was flat in dollars but fell in sterling. Bird & Bird reports in euros, and its sterling equivalent ranges from £599m to £606m depending on the conversion used.
• Some figures cover part of a firm. CMS UK LLP and Osborne Clarke UK are national figures; Eversheds Sutherland International excludes the firm’s US partnership, which reported $503m separately.
• Underlying and reported numbers differ. Knights’ £207.7m excludes its sold crime business; Shoosmiths’ 2% rise becomes 5% without its sold serious injury arm.

If you track deal work rather than revenue, Deal Database lists the transactions firms have advised on, with pages for firms including Clifford Chance, Linklaters and A&O Shearman.

Frequently asked questions

What is the biggest law firm in the UK by revenue?

On published figures for the year to 30 April 2026, A&O Shearman is the largest UK-headquartered firm, with revenue of $3.7bn (about £2.8bn). Clifford Chance is second at £2.6bn and Linklaters third at £2.47bn. Global firms such as DLA Piper report more revenue but are not ranked here.

Which UK law firm has the highest profit per equity partner?

Among firms that publish PEP, Macfarlanes is highest at £3.1m for the year to 31 March 2026. Linklaters (£2.48m), Clifford Chance (£2.3m) and A&O Shearman (£2.2m) follow. Slaughter and May does not publish its figures, so it cannot be compared.

Why is Slaughter and May not ranked?

Slaughter and May is a traditional unlimited partnership and does not publish revenue or profit. Without verified figures we have left it out of the ranking rather than rely on press estimates.

How many UK law firms make more than £1bn a year?

Six UK-headquartered firms reported revenue above £1bn in their latest published year: A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and Ashurst. Freshfields’ figure is for the year to April 2025.

When do UK law firms publish their financial results?

Most large UK firms have a 30 April year end and announce results between late June and early September. Firms with 31 March year ends often report in June. LLPs must also file accounts at Companies House within nine months of the year end.

What do magic circle firms pay newly qualified solicitors in 2026?

The magic circle firms pay NQ solicitors in London £150,000, and Macfarlanes and Baker McKenzie matched that in 2026. Legal Cheek reported in July 2026 that Quinn Emanuel pays £189,000, the highest NQ salary it tracks.

Figures are as reported by the firms or the legal press as of 9 November 2026 and may be restated in later accounts. Revenue is not directly comparable across firms with different year ends, currencies or structures. This article is general information, not financial or investment advice.