Overview of the London Law Firm Market
The London Legal Market: A Guide to Navigating the Landscape
London’s legal market is one of the most dynamic and competitive in the world—second only to New York in size. Whether you're a newly qualified solicitor or a seasoned partner, London offers an impressive range of firms and opportunities. But with so many options, how do you even begin to find the right fit for your career?
The answer starts with understanding the structure of the market—and that’s exactly what we’re here to help with.
Beyond Just Revenue and Practice Area Rankings
Most legal rankings focus on metrics like revenue or profit per partner or are based on comparative expertise in Practice areas. While these are useful benchmarks, they don’t tell the full story—especially if you’re trying to figure out where you’ll thrive, not just earn.
Other objective factors—like the type of firm, its size in London, and sector focus—can give you much clearer insight into whether a firm is aligned with your skills, values, and goals.
Understanding the Types of Firms in London:
To help give an overview of the market we’ve grouped London law firms into six core categories. These categories give a high-level overview of the different players in the London market:
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US Firms: Firms headquartered in the United States that have a London office. Often known for high salaries, leaner teams, and a strong transactional focus.
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UK International Firms: Firms originally established in the UK that have expanded globally. This includes traditional City firms as well as verein-structured firms with large London offices.
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City Firms: London-based firms that primarily operate in the UK and do not have a significant international footprint. These firms often have strong reputations in specific practice areas.
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Regional Firms : UK firms with their main offices outside of London. Many have growing London teams and offer a different pace and culture compared to the larger City firms.
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Overseas Firms: Firms headquartered outside the UK or US, including firms from Europe, Asia, or other international hubs. They often set up niche teams in London to support cross-border work.
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Offshore Firms: Firms originally established in major offshore jurisdictions like Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands or the BVI. Many have a London presence to service international clients.
Refining by Firm Size
After identifying the type of firm, it's also helpful to consider size, especially the scale of the firm’s London office. We break this down into three simple categories:
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Large Firms: More than 75 partners in London
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Medium-Sized Firms: Between 25 and 75 partners
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Small Firms: Fewer than 25 partners
The size of a firm can affect everything from culture and structure to client exposure and progression opportunities.
Law firms by type and number of firms
Law firms by type and number of partners
Law firms by size and number of firms
Law firms by size and number of partners
Breaking Down the London Law Firm Landscape: Type & Size
Understanding the scale and focus of different law firms in London can be incredibly useful when planning your next career move. Here's a snapshot of what the current legal landscape looks like, based on firm type and London office size.
US Firms: A Growing Force in London
Over the last decade, US firms have significantly expanded their presence in London and now make up a major segment of the market. While most operate small or medium-sized offices, four US firms now fall into the “large” category, collectively employing almost 600 partners—that’s around 25% of all US firm partners in London. Notably:
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Kirkland & Ellis leads the pack with more than 250 partners.
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Latham & Watkins and White & Case each have over 100 partners.
These larger US firms are heavily focused on transactional work, with 57% of partners specialising in Banking, Restructuring, or Corporate law.
There are 28 medium-sized US firms housing over 1,100 partners, with transactional practices still dominant at these firms, accounting for 51% of the total partners.
48 smaller US firms collectively have around 500 partners, and over 20 of these firms have 10 or fewer partners. These firms tend to have a broader mix of practice areas, with transactional work making up only 46% of the total.
UK International Firms: The Market Leaders by Size
UK international firms represent the largest segment of the market by headcount. 42 firms in this category employ around 5,000 partners, making up nearly 40% of all partners in our data.
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36 of these firms have large London offices.
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The remaining six are at the top end of the medium-size scale.
These firms typically offer a more balanced practice area mix than US firms, with only 35% of partners focused on transactional work. Many have sector-specific strengths.
City Firms: Numerous but Often Niche
The City firm category includes around 120 firms, employing over 3,000 partners, or roughly 25% of London’s legal partner population.
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Most City firms are small, with fewer than 10 partners.
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Just over 30 have medium-sized offices, and five qualify as large.
Many of these firms have a strong practice or industry specialisation, which we’ve included in our firm categorisation. Transactional work is far less dominant here, with only 15% of partners focused on these areas.
Regional Firms: Limited but Strategic London Presence
Although 55% of the UK’s top 200 firms are regional, many still don’t have a London base—more than 80 firms in the top 200 fall into this group. However, over 30 regional firms do have a London office:
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11 of them are medium-sized, housing over 300 partners combined.
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The rest operate smaller offices, with around 150 partners in total.
Overseas & Offshore Firms: Small but Present
There are 40+ overseas firms (outside the UK/US) with a small London presence. Additionally, 11 offshore firms (from jurisdictions like Jersey, Guernsey, or the Cayman Islands) also operate small London offices.
Want to Dig Deeper?
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