CLIFFORD CHANCE LEADS TWO TABLES

The line up this quarter in the top firms of solicitors has a familiar ring to it with little change in numbers and profits of clients. As usual, however, there is more activity in the growth tables.

The rankings have stabilised in the table of the number of clients after the movement last quarter. Slaughter and May and Eversheds head the table again with 101 and 96 clients quoted respectively. The only changes have been a swap between Herbert Smith and Clifford Chance, for sixth and seventh places, and DLA and Pinsent Curtis, for eighth and ninth places. Travers Smith Braithwaite has been replaced by Nabarro Nathanson at the bottom with 40 clients. Norton Rose added five clients, including easyjet and also some investment trusts. DLA also added five, where their loss of clients was offset by the additions of Advance Visual Communications, Conder Environmental, Lighthouse Group and Totalise.

There is similar lack of activity in the client pre-tax profit table. Linklaters and Slaughter and May head the pack with £18,264m and £16,607m respectively. These are significantly ahead of the next rung, which starts at £4,494m, in the case of Herbert Smith. Therefore, on this measure, it is a case of 'the big two'. Indeed, Linklaters is pulling ahead and recorded an increase of £643m. Clifford Chance plunged by £1,084m, mainly due to the loss of Glaxo Wellcome, but still managed to hang on to sixth place. On the other hand, Eversheds leapt £735m and, consequently, moved up one place to seventh.

There was much more volatility in the two growth rankings. Clifford Chance now heads them both, although it is in the middle of the other two tables. In the profits table, Hammond Suddards Edge rose dramatically from eleventh to third place and Eversheds fell four spots to eighth. Overall, the profit growth is modest, varying as it does from 4.7% at the top down to -9.3% at the bottom. In the earnings table, Nabarro Nathanson came in at fourth place and Slaughter and May fell from fourth to tenth.