Regional law firms are experiencing faster growth than City firms, according to audit, tax and advisory specialists Crowe Clark Whitehill’s annual survey Law Firm Benchmarking.
One third of regional firms experienced growth of more than 10% in the past year, compared to one quarter of City firms. Regional partners also enjoyed higher profits—more than 70% of those who grew profit per equity partner (PEP) reported an increase of more than 10%, compared to less than 40% of City firms.
Some 43% of regional firms cite technological investment as a key priority for the next year to 24 months. Nearly half of the firms identified the availability of high quality personnel as their main challenge over the coming year.
One-fifth of City firms cited marketing as their key priority and nearly one third considered price competition to be their biggest challenge.
Louis Baker, head of professional practices at Crowe, said: “The results paint a picture of an increasingly competitive marketplace, with firms willing to adapt pulling ahead of firms who are less change-ready.”
