Law’s millionaire-makers: The firms delivering eye-watering paydays to their top lawyers

Just how much is a seat at the top table worth?

£70,000 as a trainee? £181,000 as a newly qualified solicitor? Those are some seriously impressive pay packets. But climb further up the legal ladder, and the financial rewards reach a whole new level.

Legal Cheek’s latest Firms Most List reveals that profit per equity partner (PEP) at the top of the table has reached an eye-watering £8.2 million. That’s a cool £1.5 million jump from the £6.7 million figure topping last year’s rich list.

Much like the trainee and NQ salary rankings, US heavyweights continue to dominate the upper reaches of the table, with several posting average profits north of £5 million per equity partner. But the UK’s homegrown firms aren’t exactly scraping by either, with leading outfits reporting multi-million-pound figures of their own.

Of course, big money often comes with big demands. As Legal Cheek’s recent working hours analysis reveals, juniors at some of the highest-paying firms are clocking 12-hour-plus days, with average finishing times stretching past 10pm.

And for some lawyers, the hefty pay packet can become a trap of its own. As a recent Legal Cheek story on the so-called ‘golden handcuffs’ of City law explored, expensive mortgages, private school fees and a taste for luxury can make those salaries surprisingly difficult to walk away from.

It’s also worth remembering that PEP isn’t quite the same as a personal payslip. The figures represent averages, meaning individual equity partners may earn considerably more or less. And not every partner holds equity status, with many instead receiving a salary rather than a share of the firm’s profits. Some figures are also estimates based on publicly available information.

So, just how lucrative is life at the top? Here’s how the latest PEP figures stack up across the country’s leading law firms 💷👀

Time for a PEP talk: How much are equity partners earning?

Law firm	Profit per equity partner
Kirkland & Ellis	£8,200,000
Davis Polk & Wardwell	£7,310,000
Gibson Dunn	£6,600,000
Paul, Weiss	£6,430,000
Latham & Watkins	£6,400,000
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	£6,300,000
Milbank	£5,600,000
Sullivan & Cromwell	£5,600,000
King & Spalding	£5,250,000
Ropes & Gray	£5,200,000
Paul Hastings	£4,900,000
Dechert	£4,640,000
Sidley Austin	£4,460,000
Debevoise & Plimpton	£4,100,000
Fried Frank	£3,900,000
Willkie Farr & Gallagher	£3,750,000
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	£3,700,000
Weil Gotshal & Manges	£3,600,000
Cooley	£3,440,000
Akin	£3,350,000
White & Case	£3,300,000
Goodwin	£3,200,000
DLA Piper	£3,100,000
Macfarlanes	£3,100,000
Orrick	£3,100,000
Vinson & Elkins	£2,980,000
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader	£2,670,000
Linklaters	£2,480,000
Morrison Foerster	£2,410,000
Katten	£2,400,000
Mayer Brown	£2,360,000
Clifford Chance	£2,300,000
A&O Shearman	£2,200,000
Freshfields	£2,200,000
Greenberg Traurig	£2,200,000
Baker McKenzie	£1,800,000
Squire Patton Boggs	£1,700,000
Eversheds Sutherland	£1,600,000
Ashurst Perkins Coie	£1,590,000
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer	£1,530,000
Reed Smith	£1,500,000
Norton Rose Fulbright	£1,480,000
Travers Smith	£1,300,000
Simmons & Simmons	£1,250,000
Jones Day	£1,200,000
Addleshaw Goddard	£1,100,000
K&L Gates	£1,100,000
Walker Morris	£1,100,000
Winston Taylor	£1,100,000
Shoosmiths	£1,040,000
BCLP	£1,020,000
Fladgate	£1,000,000
Stephenson Harwood	£1,000,000
CMS	£977,963
Fieldfisher	£975,000
Withers	£903,000
DAC Beachcroft	£800,000
Osborne Clarke	£800,000
HFW	£779,000
Bevan Brittan	£750,000
Pinsent Masons	£740,000
Clyde & Co	£739,000
Payne Hicks Beach	£700,000
Bird & Bird	£699,000
Charles Russell Speechlys	£695,000
Dentons	£670,000
RPC	£650,000
TLT	£635,000
Burges Salmon	£616,000
Farrer & Co	£600,000
Watson Farley & Williams	£570,000
Forsters	£550,000
Penningtons Manches Cooper	£550,000
Ashfords	£507,000
Bristows	£500,000
Mills & Reeve	£500,000
Wiggin	£500,000
Trowers & Hamlins	£431,000
Birketts	£425,000
Gowling WLG	£420,000
Kingsley Napley	£413,000
Weightmans	£400,000
Womble Bond Dickinson	£400,000
Stevens & Bolton	£380,000
Wedlake Bell	£372,000
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 2027 Legal Cheek Firms Most List