How much are the country’s top partners raking in? 💷👀
The latest profit per equity partner (PEP) figures are in — and the message is clear: top lawyers at the biggest firms are still taking home eye-watering sums.
US firms continue to dominate the top of the table as several New York-headquartered players report sizeable uplifts to their already impressive PEP figures — with some partners pocketing increases of 20% or more on last year’s sky-high profits.
London partners at some US firms are averaging £5 million, £6 million and in some cases close to £7 million, while the Magic Circle remain around the still very healthy £2 million mark.
But it’s not just partners at US firms seeing their PEP rise. Several UK firms have delivered striking performances of their own, with some partners enjoying profit increases of more than 25%. Others, however, have seen their share of profits remain static over the past year, while a few have even experienced a slight dip.
Of course, PEP isn’t the exact take-home for every partner — some earn far more, others far less. But it still serves as a useful snapshot of the rewards on offer at top firms. It’s also worth noting that not every partner holds equity status, with many instead earning a fixed salary rather than a share of the firm’s profits.
Drawing on firm-provided figures, online sources, and the latest publicly available data, the table below provides a full breakdown of the most recent PEP figures across the country’s leading law firms. Please note that firms that do not disclose PEP — and for which no reliable, up-to-date information is available — have been excluded.
You can view all our salary data, including rates for trainees and newly qualified lawyers, on our 2026 Legal Cheek Firms Most List
Time for a PEP talk: How much are equity partners earning?
| Law firm |
Profit per equity partner |
| Kirkland & Ellis |
£6,700,000 |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell |
£6,000,000 |
| Paul Weiss |
£5,600,000 |
| Milbank |
£5,500,000 |
| Latham & Watkins |
£5,400,000 |
| Gibson Dunn |
£5,300,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell |
£4,980,000 |
| Paul Hastings |
£4,200,000 |
| Debevoise & Plimpton |
£4,000,000 |
| King & Spalding |
£4,000,000 |
| Fried Frank |
£3,800,000 |
| Sidley Austin |
£3,800,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton |
£3,700,000 |
| Ropes & Gray |
£3,700,000 |
| Dechert |
£3,600,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges |
£3,600,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher |
£3,380,000 |
| Macfarlanes |
£3,100,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins |
£2,980,000 |
| Cooley |
£2,900,000 |
| White & Case |
£2,900,000 |
| Akin |
£2,830,000 |
| Goodwin |
£2,650,000 |
| Orrick |
£2,600,000 |
| Winston & Strawn |
£2,570,000 |
| DLA Piper |
£2,500,000 |
| Morrison Foerster |
£2,230,000 |
| Hogan Lovells |
£2,200,000 |
| Linklaters |
£2,200,000 |
| Clifford Chance |
£2,100,000 |
| A&O Shearman |
£2,000,000 |
| Freshfields |
£2,000,000 |
| Katten |
£2,000,000 |
| Mayer Brown |
£2,000,000 |
| Greenberg Traurig |
£1,900,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs |
£1,700,000 |
| Baker McKenzie |
£1,500,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer |
£1,430,000 |
| Ashurst |
£1,390,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland |
£1,300,000 |
| Reed Smith |
£1,300,000 |
| Travers Smith |
£1,300,000 |
| Jones Day |
£1,200,000 |
| K&L Gates |
£1,100,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright |
£1,100,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons |
£1,100,000 |
| Taylor Wessing |
£1,100,000 |
| Addleshaw Goddard |
£1,000,000 |
| Fieldfisher |
£1,000,000 |
| Shoosmiths |
£1,000,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood |
£1,000,000 |
| CMS |
£977,963 |
| HFW |
£828,000 |
| Osborne Clarke |
£800,000 |
| Pinsent Masons |
£797,000 |
| BCLP |
£785,000 |
| Bevan Brittan |
£750,000 |
| Clyde & Co |
£750,000 |
| DAC Beachcroft |
£750,000 |
| Bird & Bird |
£717,000 |
| Payne Hicks Beach |
£700,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys |
£681,000 |
| Dentons |
£670,000 |
| Withers |
£670,000 |
| Burges Salmon |
£660,000 |
| Farrer & Co |
£600,000 |
| TLT |
£600,000 |
| Watson Farley & Williams |
£569,000 |
| Forsters |
£550,000 |
| Ashfords |
£507,000 |
| Bristows |
£500,000 |
| Wiggin |
£500,000 |
| RPC |
£490,000 |
| Mills & Reeve |
£470,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper |
£440,000 |
| Birketts |
£425,000 |
| Gowling WLG |
£420,000 |
| Kingsley Napley |
£405,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins |
£400,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson |
£400,000 |
| Weightmans |
£391,000 |
| Wedlake Bell |
£372,000 |
| Howard Kennedy |
£362,000 |
| Stevens & Bolton |
£360,000 |
| Cripps |
£358,000 |
| Bates Wells |
£344,000 |
| Shakespeare Martineau |
£320,000 |
| Foot Anstey |
£264,000 |
| Brabners |
£214,000 |
You can view all our salary data, including rates for trainees and newly qualified lawyers, on our 2026 Legal Cheek Firms Most List
