Top lawyers’ hourly rates closing in on £2,000, new report shows
New research has revealed that some partners at the world’s top law firms are being charged out to their clients at nearly £2,000 per hour. Associates in the highest-value practice areas aren’t far behind.
According to the findings from LexisNexis, top partners can charge clients over $2,300 (over £1,700) per hour, with average partner hourly rate in the largest firms increasing by 7.5% from 2024. This increase was even steeper for associate rates — which jumped by 11% on average at the largest firms — with some firms now charging clients $2,000 (almost £1,500) for each hour of their top senior associates’ time.
To be clear, this is not what lawyers take home but what their clients are charged per hour for their time. The cut solicitors receive is lower. Nevertheless, partners are extremely well-remunerated, with profit-per-equity partner (PEP) topping out at over £6 million at Kirkland & Ellis, according to Legal Cheek’s Most List. PEP in the Magic Circle is led by A&O Shearman, at over £2 million. Associates, meanwhile, start on salaries as high as £180,000 at firms like Davis Polk & Wardwell, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, and Paul Weiss.
The data comes from the LexisNexis 2025 CounselLink Trends Report, which tracks legal spending across more than 1.8 million matters and $67 billion (£50 billion) in billings. The eye-watering hourly rates vary across practice areas, with M&A, regulatory and finance matters leading the way.
The report, which largely draws on US firms, confirms that legal fees in high-value practices continue to soar, with large law firms now controlling almost half of all legal spend in the US market. Hourly rates have increased approximately 5% each year since 2022, with partners at large firms (over 750 lawyers) billing a median rate of $1,050 (£784) per hour. Practice areas racking up the lowest (still high!) fees include real estate, employment, environmental matters, litigation and insurance.
This research has come as law firms are beginning to announce financials. Latham & Watkins, Reed Smith, and Kirkland recently announced their results. Kirkland’s 2024 revenues soared to almost £7 billion, while Reed Smith and Latham also enjoyed healthy growth.
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