Lawyers 2,418
Turnover £1.67 billion
Offices 30
This “magic circle” firm, which dates back to 1838, has offices across the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with Dublin the latest addition.
Figures for the 2020-21 financial year were impressive, with turnover edging up 2 per cent to £1.67 billion and pre-tax profits soaring £815.3 million, a 12.2 per cent rise on last year. Profit per equity partner grew 10 per cent to £1.77 million.
Linklaters this year elected its first female senior partner. Aedamar Comiskey, who is from Co Monaghan and is a graduate of University College Dublin, was previously the firm’s global head of corporate. She advised Dixons on its £3.8 billion merger with Carphone Warehouse in 2014.
On her appointment, Comiskey became only the second female leader of a magic circle law firm. The first was Georgia Dawson, who in January took the reins at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the arch-rival of Linklaters in the City’s elite group of five.
Advertisement
In what was a suitably busy 12 months, the firm worked with the fintech company Wise on its high-profile flotation on the London Stock Exchange and advised on the £420 million sale of Topshop’s flagship Oxford Street store.
Linklaters also provided legal advice to Gavi, the international vaccine alliance, on a €500 million financing package provided by the EU to support the alliance’s global Covax scheme to vaccinate poorer countries.
Meanwhile, 2021 proved to be an excellent year for the firm’s newly qualified solicitors. In September Linklaters confirmed that it was raising their pay 7.5 per cent to £107,000, making them the most generously rewarded cohort at any English law firm.
In March, the firm announced that it was poised to become the first of the London magic circle to open in Dublin. It would be the latest in a group of Square Mile legal practices aiming to maintain an English-language presence in the EU in the wake of Brexit.
And, of course, no review of 2021 would be complete without due recognition of Linklater’s former trainee, Dominic Raab, who in September took on the role of lord chancellor, justice secretary . . . and deputy prime minister to boot.
Advertisement
★ Commended for banking & finance; commercial dispute resolution; company & commercial; financial crime & fraud & regulatory; insolvency & restructuring; mergers & acquisitions
To browse the 200 Best Law Firms 2022, go to thetimes.co.uk/bestlawfirms