Another ‘record’ year for Herbert Smith Freehills

International firm Herbert Smith Freehills has hailed another 'record' trading year, despite flat profits.

Revenues climbed to £1.186bn in the year to 30 April, an 8% increase on 2021/22, while profit climbed 2% to £388.2m. Profit per equity partner rose 1%  £1,173,000.

CEO Justin D’Agostino commented: ‘This year has delivered our highest revenue and profit to date, surpassing last year’s record result. This is the firm’s 10th consecutive year of revenue growth.   We have a well-hedged global business across a broad mix of geographies, sectors and practice areas – and our “twin-engines” of transactional and contentious expertise keep the firm resilient.

'Our financial strength allows us to invest in people, clients and infrastructure. This includes growing our private capital, energy transition and ESG practices – areas generating significant growth for our firm.’

He added: ‘We are still facing tough trading conditions, inflation is high and the cost of doing business continues to increase. But we are looking forward to another successful year.’ 

HSF promoted 32 new partners to the global partnership in 2022/23 and made 11 lateral partner hires. Some 31% of partners are women, up from 18% since HSF first set gender targets in 2014. For key partner leadership roles, women now hold 31% of the positions compared to 16% in 2014, the firm said.

Herbert Smith Freehills is also among the first businesses to become a ‘living pension’ employer, committing to higher contributions to ensure a minimum standard of retirement living.