Clifford Chance today announced a seventh consecutive year of record profit and revenue, which has pushed profit per equity partner (PEP) at the magic circle firm above £2m.

The firm posted revenues of £1.97bn in the year to 30 April 2022, 8% up on the previous year’s results when revenue grew by just 1%, with £687m (35%) of global revenues coming from the UK.

Clifford Chance also recorded a 9% increase in partnership profit to £783m, with PEP jumping by 10% to £2.04m – narrowly beating magic circle rivals Allen & Overy, which announced a 3% increase in PEP to £1.95m last week.

The firm said that its ‘combination of robust revenues, prudent cost management and increased emphasis on financial and commercial discipline, resulted in the firm ending FY22 with £376m in cash and no net borrowings’.

Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance has recorded its seventh consecutive year of record profit and revenue

Global managing partner Charles Adams said: ‘We are seeing the positive outcome of our long-term strategic focus to diversify our client base, continually increase our market share and grow in priority geographies such as the Americas.’

He added: ‘Clients are at the heart of everything we do. To serve them better, we continue to prioritise our relationships with them and the delivery of our balanced combination of expertise and our increasingly global focus. Despite geopolitical uncertainty and signs of a slowdown in some markets, all our regions grew in income and net profit.’

The firm also said that ‘support for the wellbeing of our people has been a key priority throughout the global pandemic and as people adapt to new ways of working’, adding that it ‘continues to work hard to ensure the experience of all our colleagues allows them to thrive in their roles’.

Clifford Chance appointed its first global head of wellbeing and employee experience in June and said earlier this month that it would make a one-time payment of £1,500 to trainee lawyers and business services staff in the UK.

Earlier this year, the firm also promoted its largest cohort of new partners since 2007, with 37 lawyers worldwide – 41% of who are women – 17 of which are based in London.