Disputes practices are becoming engines of growth but geostrategy, talent and court power shifts are rewriting the rules for UK firms.
Major law firms are rewiring their disputes practices for growth in anticipation of a litigation super-cycle. Years of geopolitical shocks, sanctions regimes, supply-chain fractures, sovereign disputes and technology-driven battles are driving sustained demand for elite litigators. What was once a defensive capability has morphed into a revenue-generating engine room, growing faster than at any point since the financial crisis.
Analysis of the UK’s largest litigation practices shows just how materially firms are increasing their exposure to contentious work. Of the 45 firms for which Prosperant holds historical data, 20 have increased the proportion of revenue derived from disputes since 2020.
Slaughter and May, the one-office London powerhouse, is a prime example. Litigation revenue has risen by 134% since 2021 to £151.8m, with disputes now accounting for more than a fifth of firmwide revenue (22%), up from 14% in 2021. With total turnover up 38% over the same period, the firm is not simply growing — it is actively building market share in the contentious space.
Elsewhere, firms with long-standing disputes pedigrees have doubled down. Kennedys now derives around 93% of its revenue from contentious work, up from 55% in 2020/21, underlining a decisive shift in its revenue mix. DWF has undergone a comparable transformation, with disputes rising from 34% to 52% of firmwide revenue following its delisting and move into private-equity ownership.
This pattern is replicated across the mid-tier. Firms including Bird & Bird, Osborne Clarke and Stephenson Harwood are all strategically widening their exposure to the disputes market, reflecting a clear conviction that litigation offers durable, long-term growth.
The financials reinforce the point. Unlike transactional work, litigation is a multi-year investment — capital-intensive upfront, but capable of delivering structurally higher returns. Of the 42 firms for which we hold comparable historical data, 40 have delivered double-digit disputes revenue growth since 2021. That momentum is likely to accelerate given the depth of recent talent investment. Alongside Slaughter and May, Osborne Clarke, Taylor Wessing and DWF have all doubled disputes revenues since 2021, while Stephenson Harwood (up 85%) is also building pace.
The influence of US firms on the UK litigation landscape is evident, with Quinn Emanuel and Kirkland & Ellis continuing to build market share. But this has not been entirely to the detriment of UK firms. On the contrary, the expansion of US litigation powerhouses has reinforced London’s position as a global disputes hub, generating new waves of complex, high-value litigation for domestic firms to capture.
At the same time, the proliferation of opt-out collective actions in England & Wales is further fuelling demand, while London remains a preferred venue for resolving global disputes — the volume and value of which continue to rise.
For litigation leaders, the coming disputes super-cycle will look fundamentally different from anything that has gone before. Cases are larger, more complex and more capital-intensive. But this period will also be defined by operational change, as generative AI reshapes how litigation teams work. The first half of the 2020s was about reinforcing the foundations. The second half will be about putting them to work.