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Global firm reveals increase in revenues
Despite describing demanding and volatile market conditions, one global law firm has posted a 10.6 per cent rise in revenues for the 2016-17 financial year.
Emma Musgrave
Herbert Smith Freehills has announced its unaudited results for the year ended 30 April 2017.
Profit was slightly down at £256.1 million, from £258.8 million of the previous financial year.
Herbert Smith Freehills CEO Mark Rigotti said that the results show another year of growth as the firm enters the fifth consecutive year of significant investment in its international business.
“It is very encouraging to announce another year of growth, especially against a backdrop of a demanding and volatile global economy,” Mr Rigotti said.
“While we have seen a marginal reduction in profit, this partly reflects continuing investment in our network, our people and our technology.
“As we near the end of this investment period, our world-class client portfolio and brand are stronger than ever across markets and regions. While the legal sector evolves rapidly, our business remains resilient.”
Mr Rigotti added that from a regional perspective, he’s proud of the firm’s achievements in EMEA, which he noted have recorded “stellar revenue growth”.
“This was partly due to contributions from recent office openings in Germany, Johannesburg and Riyadh, but also reflected excellent performances in Paris, Moscow and Madrid as the scale of our overall EMEA presence grew significantly,” he said.
“We have also seen another good year in Asia, with especially strong performances in China and Japan.”
Furthermore, Mr Rigotti said that the global corporate practice advised on over 120 cross-border deals, totalling in excess of US$160 billion “thanks in part to a robust performance across the firm’s EMEA and Australian offices”.
“Further achievements include the excellent performance of our Alternative Legal Services practice and an expanding presence in the US, with the addition of a Latin American capability and significant revenue growth generated by our New York office,” Mr Rigotti said.
Earlier this year, Herbert Smith Freehills announced the opening of an Alternative Legal Services (ALT) practice in Melbourne. This follows a move which has seen the firm open up an ALT practice Perth.
Outside of Australia, the firm has ALT centres in Belfast, Shanghai and Johannesburg.
Collectively, the ALT business has grown from 20 to over 400 staff in five years.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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