Arthur Cox one of Europe's highest-earning law firms (from Irishtimes.com)

Jev/N

Just thought the forum might be interested in this, full details on the list here: http://www.centaur2.co.uk/emags/thelawyer/TL_Euro_100/

COLM KEENA Public Affairs Correspondent

THE IRISH firm Arthur Cox has one of the highest turnovers for a law firm in Europe and has an annual revenue per partner in excess of €1 million, according to the latest issue of an online magazine that covers the profession.

The firm, which had a turnover or fee income of €105 million, is in 14th place in a list of the top 100 in Europe in terms of turnover, which was published yesterday in thelawyer.com magazine.

McCann FitzGerald (€100 million) is in 16th place and Matheson Ormsby Prentice (€95 million) is 19th on the list, which does not include UK firms.

Arthur Cox has a wide range of blue-chip clients including the Department of Finance, which it advised on the bank guarantee scheme and the bank recapitalisation process. It also provides advice to the National Asset Management Agency.

The firm had earned close to €4 million for its advice on the bank guarantee and recapitalisation processes by late last year. A spokesman for the firm said it had no comment to make on the magazine’s figures.

It is generally considered that Arthur Cox is Ireland’s largest legal firm although none of the legal firms publish income or profit figures. Irish law firms are not limited companies and do not publish accounts. The origin of the figures quoted in the online magazine is not known.

The magazine says Arthur Cox has 560 staff of whom 370 are fee-earners. Of these 235 are lawyers and 101 are partners. The revenue per lawyer is €447,000 while the revenue per partner is €1.04 million.

McCann FitzGerald has 429 staff of whom 272 are fee-earners, the magazine says. There are 198 lawyers and 69 partners with the firm having revenue of €505,000 per lawyer and €1.45 million per partner.

The figures for Matheson Ormsby Prentice state it has 530 staff of whom 490 are fee-earners. There are 350 lawyers and 90 partners, with the firm having a revenue per lawyer of €271,000 and per partner of €1.06 million.

AL Goodbody is 23rd on the list with a stated turnover of €85 million. It is said to have 550 staff of whom 66 are partners. The firm’s revenue per partner is given as €1.29 million.

William Fry solicitors comes 34th on the list with a turnover of €61 million. It is listed as having 370 staff of whom 60 are partners. The revenue per partner is €1.02 million.

The magazine lists Mason Hayes Curran in 56th position, with a turnover of €36 million. It has 270 staff and 47 partners, with revenues per partner of €0.77 million, according to the magazine.

There has been ongoing controversy over the level of competition in the legal profession and the fees charged. On the other hand, many solicitors, particularly younger professionals, have been hit hard by the recession.

Amazotheamazing

Can't say I'm too surprised, our Government like nothing better than giving them money.

maidhc

Kinda pointless having a list without the UK firms though, it is like a "best of the rest" compliation.

hada

maidhc wrote: »

Kinda pointless having a list without the UK firms though, it is like a "best of the rest" compliation.

I would agree. But from thelawyer.com's perspective, it was just a 'European ranking' as opposed to a British and European ranking... I know, it seems rather arbitrary!

However, I do say credit where credit is due - the Irish firms have done quite well, considering the majority of them operate very small/few overseas offices compared to other European firms in the rankings.

Amazotheamazing

hada wrote: »

I would agree. But from thelawyer.com's perspective, it was just a 'European ranking' as opposed to a British and European ranking... I know, it seems rather arbitrary!

However, I do say credit where credit is due - the Irish firms have done quite well, considering the majority of them operate very small/few overseas offices compared to other European firms in the rankings.

Hmm, credit where credit is due? I'd suggest that considering the size of the Irish market compared to their placing in the list, Irish firms are over-charging. Unless you think a country with a population less than several (individual) European cities is a some sort of magic money-making mill?

nuac

Surprised that ALG are so far down the list, likewise MOPS.

FOI on the actual fees paid for state work would be interesting.

Jev/N

nuac wrote: »

Surprised that ALG are so far down the list, likewise MOPS.

True, but look at their earning per partner

dermot_sheehan

it's obscene that they are making these kind of profits yet dumping all their newly qualified's at the first hint of a recession..

Amazotheamazing

gabhain7 wrote: »

it's obscene that they are making these kind of profits yet dumping all their newly qualified's at the first hint of a recession..

Not all their newly qualifieds, a good few of my mates from there have been kept on. I think it's nonsense the hours they are expected to work though, it's a sick system but then again I've always been a work to live not live to work person.

drkpower

gabhain7 wrote: »

it's obscene that they are making these kind of profits yet dumping all their newly qualified's at the first hint of a recession..

Did this actually happen or are you making it up for effect...?;)

Most of the big firms, afaik, have kept about 2/3 - 3/4 of their NQs in the last 2 years and trainees have escaped the worst of the pay cuts (in some cases, escaped entirley).

Its a tough balance; when you consider the profits per lawyer/partner, it can seem despaerately unfair to those who lose jobs/take salary cuts. But if businesses dont respond early to changing economic circumstances, they lose the flexibility to change when they really need to and end up going out of business. And then people curse them for not managing their business properly when they had the chance.

Player_86

The figures given here are of turnover and revenue per lawyer/partner.

As I'm sure everyone realises, this is not the same as profit.

If Cox turn over €105m, it has to pay 560 people, pay rent, light and heat, stationary etc, practicing certs for its lawyers, Blackhall fees for its trainees, all that stuff. I'm not for a second saying that profits are not high - but they are not anywhere near €105m.

Farcear

Any guesstimates as to what a partner in Cox would net?

johnfás

Farcear wrote: »

Any guesstimates as to what a partner in Cox would net?

About 450k I would imagine. Before personal tax obviously.

I don't necessarily think the figures in the Irish Times are that accurate anyway.