King & Spalding’s London revenue has fallen 8 per cent despite a global increase in turnover to $1.1bn.
The firm revealed its City operation made $42.6m (£34.5m) over 2016, a drop of 8 per cent from $46.5m.
The drop follows a decline in lawyer headcount from 53 to 47, however this also meant revenue per lawyer in London rose 3 per cent from $877.4m to $906.4m.
London’s lukewarm results contrast with the firm’s overall turnover growth of 3.9 per cent to $1.1bn. In 2015, King & Spalding revealed it had surpassed the $1bn mark for the first time after growth of 9 per cent.
Over 2016, the firm recorded yet another milestone with total lawyer numbers breaking topping 1,000 for the first time. Headcount globally increased from 936 to 1,005.
Net profit rose 8 per cent to $484m, although profit per equity partner decreased nearly 2 per cent to $2.5m. This follows a rise of 6 per cent over 2015.
King & Spalding has had a relatively quiet year in London, hiring Jones Day partner Jules Quinn to lead its employment practice. The firm made up one lawyer to partner in the office, with Ilan Kotkis joining the corporate partnership.
By comparison, the firm made multiple lateral hires in 2015 including Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson’s disputes head Nick Cherryman and Berwin Leighton Paisner advocacy head Stuart Isaacs QC.
Recent mandates handled by London partners include Aldersgate Investments’ $2.4bn sale of an interest in Global Switch, GSK’s collaboration with Miltenyi Biotec and a $550m Tema LNG Project in Ghana.
King & Spalding also repaid $800,000 in fees from ‘Putin’s banker’ Sergei Pugachev, as judgments were handed down at the start of 2016.
The payment breached a $2bn global freezing order on Pugachev’s assets secured by Hogan Lovells in 2014 and was found to be in contempt of court.
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