Linklaters
Linklaters is a 188-year-old UK Magic Circle law firm advising governments and FTSE100 companies.
On the record
Checkpoint: FY2027 annual results (year ending 30 April 2027), watch for US partner attrition or profit deceleration
The call
Linklaters keeps growing revenue and profit on the back of huge global mandates, even as US firms pull ahead on pay and pull individual partners away.
Linklaters is one of the world's biggest law firms, handling major deals and legal work for huge companies and governments. It is hard to replace because clients trust it after decades of work, and the law itself requires certain confidential relationships that only real lawyers can have. However, American firms like Kirkland and Paul Weiss are now paying their lawyers more money per person, which could cause Linklaters' top lawyers to move to America, and if that happens fast enough, it could shift which firm gets the biggest deals.
Why
01
AI pressure: Legora and in-house tools like Laila. Linklaters is deploying AI drafting and review tools itself rather than losing work to them, cutting junior lawyer hours not client mandates. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Weiss, Latham & Watkins. US elite firms now pay partners far more and are poaching individuals, pulling ahead on profit per partner while Linklaters keeps growing revenue. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. SRA regulation, legal privilege, personal partner liability, and decades of FTSE100 and sovereign client relationships that AI and rivals cannot replicate.
What would change this call
A Magic Circle practice group (not just individual partners) lifts out to a US firm. Would show talent loss escalating from trickle to structural threat.
Linklaters FY27 results (around July 2027) show revenue or profit growth stalling. Would show the current growth streak breaking under competitive pressure.
A fresh merger or tie-up approach (after the denied Cleary Gottlieb talks) surfaces. Would show leadership still feels the transatlantic profitability gap acutely.
Linklaters FY27 results (around July 2027) show revenue or profit growth stalling. Would show the current growth streak breaking under competitive pressure.
A fresh merger or tie-up approach (after the denied Cleary Gottlieb talks) surfaces. Would show leadership still feels the transatlantic profitability gap acutely.
Key numbers
- FY26 revenue £2.5bn, up 6.8%
- FY26 profit per equity partner £2.48m, up 11%
- US partnership grew 75% since 2021 to ~55 partners
Named risks
- Transatlantic profitability gap versus US elite firms could accelerate partner poaching.
- Renewed merger speculation despite denials signals leadership feels structural pressure.
- Industry-wide AI adoption could pressure traditional hourly billing model over time.
- Lateral hiring war with US firms could destabilize specific practice groups if losses outpace gains.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Kirkland & Ellis | gaining on | US elite firms reported overtaking Magic Circle on per-lawyer profitability, mid-2026 |
| Paul Weiss | contesting | Poached NY litigators Boehning and Levi in FY26 while Linklaters counter-hires from US firms |
| Cleary Gottlieb | contesting | Linklaters reportedly sought merger with Cleary in early 2026; both denied it (2026-07-13) |
| A&O Shearman | contesting | Rival Magic Circle firm formed via 2024 merger, competing on scale for global mandates |
Questions people ask
- Is Linklaters profitable in 2026?
- Yes. Linklaters reported FY26 pre-tax profit of £1.2bn, up 11.6% year on year, on revenue of £2.5bn, up 6.8%, for the year ending April 2026, marking a record year for the Magic Circle firm as of 2026-07-21.
- Could AI replace Linklaters lawyers?
- Unlikely for core advisory work. Linklaters is SRA regulated with personal liability and privilege attached to legal advice, and instead of being displaced it deployed Legora firmwide from September 2025 and launched a 20 lawyer Applied Intelligence team on 2025-11-24 to sell AI expertise to clients.
- Is Linklaters merging with Cleary Gottlieb?
- No confirmed deal. Semafor reported on 2026-07-13 that Linklaters had approached Cleary Gottlieb about a merger earlier in 2026, but both firms publicly denied it, and managing partner Paul Lewis said no merger is needed given strong organic US growth.
- Who is Linklaters' biggest competitor?
- US elite firms Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Weiss and Latham & Watkins are the sharpest competitive pressure, overtaking Magic Circle firms on per-lawyer profitability metrics and poaching partners, as with Paul Weiss litigators Chris Boehning and Daniel Levi joining Linklaters in 2026.
- Who owns Linklaters?
- Linklaters LLP is privately owned by its equity partners under a lockstep style profit sharing model; it is not publicly traded and has no external investor. It registered as an LLP (OC326345) on 2007-05-01, succeeding the original partnership.
- Is Linklaters losing partners to US law firms?
- It has lost some, including Nick Rumsby to Cleary Gottlieb in 2022, but also gained heavily: FY26 alone brought 12 lateral partner hires including a New York litigation team from Paul Weiss, alongside 37 new partner elections, as of 2026-07-21.
Timeline
- 2026-07-21Reports FY26 revenue £2.5bn (+6.8%) and pre-tax profit £1.2bn (+11.6%)
- 2026-07-13Semafor reports Linklaters sought Cleary Gottlieb merger; both firms deny
- 2026-06-25Yahoo Finance and Law.com report Magic Circle firms overtaken by US rivals on profitability
- 2026-03Announces new offices in Shanghai and Singapore
- 2025-11-24Launches 20-lawyer Applied Intelligence team pairing lawyers with data scientists
- 2025-09-23Rolls out Legora generative AI platform firmwide across all 30 offices
- 2025-07-16Reports FY25 revenue £2.32bn (+11%), pre-tax profit £1.08bn (+14%), first year above £1bn
- 2024-07-09Reports FY24 revenue surpasses £2bn for the first time
- 2022-12-12Modifies traditional lockstep compensation system to retain partners against US poaching
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Linklaters points to US growth as turnover climbs 7% to £2.5bn (2026-07-21)
- Linklaters points to US growth as turnover climbs 11% to exceed £2.3bn (2025-07-16)
- Linklaters Surpasses £2 Billion Revenue Mark (2024-07-09)
- No Merger Needed: Linklaters Posts Strong Financial Results (2026-07-21)
- Linklaters Partner Profit Reaches Record £2.48mn (2026-07-21)
- 'Magic circle' law firm profits overtaken by US rivals (2026-06-25)
- The Magic Circle Just Got Replaced (2026-06-19)
- UK law firm Linklaters sought to merge with Cleary Gottlieb (2026-07-13)
- What Linklaters Now Offers its Top Partners (2022-12-12)
- Linklaters' Big Year (2025-07-23)
- Linklaters says its roll out of Legora internally is just the beginning (2025-09-23)
- Reimagining the legal space (2025-12-14)