Top 12 law firms have €400m turnover

IRELAND’S top 12 commercial law firms have a combined annual turnover estimated at over €400 million, it has emerged.

The top earning law firm, Arthur Cox, whose clients include Bank of Ireland and CRH, had a turnover of €66m, according to a survey carried out by British legal journal, The Lawyer.

These figures cannot be confirmed as legal firms in Ireland, unlike their counterparts in Britain, refuse to disclose turnover, profits or the average earnings of their partners.

There is no legal requirement to do so as the firms cannot avail of limited liability status. The turnovers are based on revenue per partner, which is estimated at about €900,000 a year.

The magazine estimates the top lawyers in the major firms earn between €500,000 and €600,000 on the basis that the companies earned profits of close to 35% of turnover.

One un-named managing partner of a large Dublin firm said "the profits of the leading Irish firms compare notably better than mid-size London firms. Three times the average of their British counterparts would not be unusual, although the mid-sizers earn a lot less. In Dublin, taking home €200,000 or even €500,000, for a top partner "isn't doing particularly well".

While Arthur Cox, with 70 partners out of nearly 200 qualified lawyers, is said to lead the turnover league table. It is closely followed by McCann Fitzgerald at €61m, A&L Goodbody at €59m, Matheson Ormsby Prentice at €50m, and William Fry at €47m.

Sources in the legal profession said that in the absence of published turnover, the figures have to be regarded as purely speculative.

However, The Lawyer magazine said: "Not a single partner was willing to go on the record with specifics.

"But by quizzing enough people current partners, former partners, managing partners, recruitment consultants who were ready, willing and able to offer insights, we have produced informed estimates on figures."