This article raises some interesting questions about how the legal press (and law firms) report revenue growth. Apparently CMS Cameron McKenna's UK-only turnover "soared 37 per cent, from £160.4m to £219.7m for the 2014 / 2015 financial year".
True on the face of it, but there is no mention of the acquisition of Dundas & Wilson, who had a turnover in 2013 / 2014 of £46.9m.
So, on a like-for-like basis, CMS' UK turnover grew by 6%, from £207.3m to £219.7m. Still good, but not quite the "soaring" that The Lawyer reported.
Firms and the legal press need to be more transparent about like-for-like growth when reporting end of year figures, otherwise we end up with a very distorted picture of the market.
For more ideas and thinking see www.thirteenideas.com
The revenue growth follows the firm’s acquisition of Scottish firm Dundas & Wilson at the end of 2013 (12 December 2013) and a tie-up with Geneva firm ZPG Avocats at the same time. CMS Cameron McKenna’s UK-only turnover soared 37 per cent, from £160.4m to £219.7m for the 2014/15 financial year.
