Australia’s top law firms have posted “remarkably strong” results in the first half of the 2022 financial year, as booming capital markets helped demand rise 6.4 per cent and revenue a whopping 13.2 per cent.
The mid-year market report by Thomson Reuters, released on Thursday, shows all key practice areas are growing and leading local firms continue to outperform their counterparts overseas.
The standout was mergers and acquisitions, with demand (or billable hours) for the sector rising 19.8 per cent compared with the first half of 2021. Tax, banking and finance, and general corporate law also rose by more than 10 per cent.
All the key finance measures showed healthy growth. Worked rates, or the hourly fee the client agrees to pay, rose at the same pace as demand (6.4 per cent). Fees worked, or projected revenue, rose by more than 13 per cent, and productivity (or utilisation) and fee earner growth was also up.
The report draws on data collected each quarter from the financial management systems of 16 law firms for the Peer Monitor benchmarking service. Most of the top-10 firms by size in The Australian Financial Review Law Partnership Survey take part.
