Transatlantic combination A&O Shearman posts first financials

A&O Shearman has disclosed its first full-year trading results since magic circle outfit Allen & Overy merged with US firm Shearman & Sterling in May 2024.

The combined firm posted pre-tax profit of £1.1bn on income of £2.9bn for the year to 30 April. Profit per equity partner came in at £2m.

In 2023-24 Allen & Overy posted a 19% rise in PEP to £2.2m, but the combined firm stressed that legacy financials are not comparable. On a like-for-like basis, A&O Shearman said PEP for full-year 2025 is higher than the prior year PEP of both legacy firms individually.

In 2024, it added, Allen & Overy’s full-year results had benefited from a strategic partnership with Inflexion, relating to the legal and compliance data subscription platform aosphere.

Hervé Ekué, A&O Shearman’s global managing partner, said: ‘In our first year as a merged firm, we have delivered strong results while making important investments in our business, including reshaping the firm to ensure we are optimally positioned to meet client needs.’

In April 2025, the firm began rolling out agentic AI agents that tackle complex legal workflows. These focus on antitrust filing analysis, cybersecurity, fund formation and loan review – ‘high-value areas requiring deep legal expertise and multi-step reasoning’.

Elsewhere, income and profitability has declined at City firm Travers Smith.

The firm posted profits of £74.1m on turnover of £210m for the year to 30 June, down from £77m and £215m respectively in 2024. PEP rose to a new record of £1.3m however, which the firm said reflects an underlying increase of 5%. Revenue per lawyer rose 6%.

Managing partner Edmund Reed said: ‘These results demonstrate the resilience and underlying strength of our core business, even in a year marked by continued market volatility. Our focus on prioritising more profitable revenue in our strategic areas - transactions, disputes and investigations, and complex advisory mandates - has continued to contribute strongly to the firm’s progress in growing both RPL and PEP.’