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A&O Shearman profits rise 14% as firm sharpens its focus

A&O Shearman profits rise 14% as firm sharpens its focus
Published Date
Jul 16 2026
Related people
Image of Khalid Garousha
Khalid GaroushaSenior Partner, Co-Chair Executive Committee/Board, Abu Dhabi
Image of Adam Hakki
Adam HakkiPartner, Co-Chair Executive Committee/Board and U.S. Chair, New York
Image of Hervé Ekué
Hervé EkuéGlobal Managing Partner, Paris
A&O Shearman today announced profit before tax of USD1.6 billion, up 14%, and profit per equity partner (PEP) of USD2.9 million, up 12%, for the financial year ended April 30, 2026. Revenue was USD3.7 billion, in line with the prior year in U.S. dollar terms, with revenue per partner up 11.3%.

Two years on from the merger, the firm is more profitable, more focused, and advising on a greater share of its clients’ most significant matters.

FY26 headline figures

  • Profit before tax: USD1.6bn (GBP1.2bn)
  • Profit per equity partner: USD2.9m (GBP2.2m)
  • Revenue: USD3.7bn (GBP2.8bn)

Results are reported in U.S. dollars with percentage changes stated in U.S. dollar terms. The firm's statutory accounts are prepared in sterling. In sterling, revenue was GBP2.8bn compared with GBP2.9bn in the prior year, while profit before tax, PEP, and revenue per partner increased in both currencies.

A nimbler, more profitable firm

The results reflect a period of deliberate reshaping—choices about where the firm invests and the work it focuses on. Revenue mix continued to shift toward complex, cross-border matters where the firm’s proposition is most relevant—transformational transactions and financings, major disputes, emerging regulatory issues, and AI-enabled services—increasing profitability. The results are consistent with that recalibration: a nimbler and differently shaped firm.

A&O Shearman continued to strengthen the partnership, promoting 33 lawyers to partner and adding 24 strategic lateral hires across its priority sectors and markets.

“We set out to build a firm that wins on the unique strength of its global platform and a culture of excellence. These results show our strategy taking hold”

“We set out to build a firm that wins on the unique strength of its global platform and a culture of excellence. These results show our strategy taking hold,” said Hervé Ekué, A&O Shearman’s global managing partner. “Clients are entrusting us with more of their most important and complex mandates. Combined with the way we have streamlined our operation, our profitability has grown significantly. We are a more profitable firm, with a stronger base for sustainable growth.”

Sector strength

The firm's strategy is sector-led, and its priority sectors drove some of the year's most standout mandates. In life sciences, the firm advised Genmab on its USD8bn acquisition of Merus (and its subsequent USD6bn bank/bond refinancing), and Boston Scientific on its proposed USD15bn acquisition of Penumbra. In technology, it acted for Texas Instruments on its USD7.5bn acquisition of Silicon Labs. In private capital, it advised Partners Group on the acquisition of Techem and the arrangers on InPost's EUR7.8bn take-private financing. In consumer, it advised JDE Peet’s on the EUR15.7bn recommended public offer by Keurig Dr Pepper. In energy, it advised Sizewell C on its supply chain and contracting strategy for a GBP38bn nuclear project.

In disputes, the firm secured a landmark settlement for UBS ending a 14-year litigation in France and represented Reflex Media and Clover8 Investments in a major trademark infringement jury trial win against SuccessfulMatch.com. 

AI leadership

A&O Shearman's leadership in AI is grounded in firmwide adoption—bringing together legal expertise, technology capability, and process discipline to deliver advice with greater speed and precision, while preserving the judgment clients expect. Its lawyers are working more efficiently, with more of their time focused on the work where their experience matters most.

The firm is deepening the integration of AI across how it delivers work—embedding its legal expertise into AI systems, and those systems into how its lawyers work, to keep improving client outcomes.

“We see great opportunity ahead, in the sectors and markets where demand for our offering is strongest, and through the continued investment in our people and technology,” added Ekué.

“We see great opportunity ahead, in the sectors and markets where demand for our offering is strongest, and through the continued investment in our people and technology”

Social impact—commitment to pro bono, fundraising, and inclusion

Beyond its client work, the firm maintained its commitment to pro bono, social impact, and inclusion. In FY26, A&O Shearman worked across 900 pro bono matters globally and donated a combined USD5.2m (GBP3.9m) to charitable causes, including USD2.8m (GBP2.1m) contributed via the A&O Shearman Foundation.

The firm is now ten months into its two-year global social impact partnership with United for Global Mental Health. Fundraising is well underway through campaigns linked to First Hour, First Day and International Women’s Day, and the firm's pro bono support for the nonprofit has contributed to policy change and a renewed focus on suicide prevention efforts in four countries, with a combined population of 129m.

The firm was once again named as one of the top ten best-performing private companies in the FTSE Women Leaders Review and was rated in the top 100 of the Corporate Equality Index as a leader in LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

[Reporting period: May 1, 2025–April 30, 2026]