Hogan Lovells achieves record results across key metrics for Calendar Year / Financial Year 2021

Key global figures:

• Across our regions, the Americas represented approximately 47% of total billings, EMEA 47%, and Asia-Pacific 6%. 
• In terms of our three global practice groups, Corporate & Finance represented approximately 42% of total billings, Global Regulatory & IPMT 30%, and LAE 28%.

According to Hogan Lovells CEO Miguel Zaldivar:

“The firm achieved record financial results in 2021 across the board. With 12.9% growth in global revenue, a 16.5% increase in revenue per lawyer, and a 25.9% increase in profits per equity partner, the firm had the strongest overall results in its history.

“A combination of factors contributed to these record results. As one of only a few truly integrated global law firms, we are delivering on our vision to operate at the intersection of business and government—and the market is responding. We have mandates around the world to represent clients in their most complex matters across practices and jurisdictions.

“Our global transactions practice was a key driver of our performance—we represented clients in some of the biggest M&A deals of 2021, particularly in tech M&A, including Oracle on its acquisition of Cerner Corporation. Our focus on highly regulated sectors was brought to bear in many of these transactions. For example, we provided antitrust and foreign direct investment counsel to AmerisourceBergen Corporation on its acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s wholesale distribution business in Europe.

“Additionally, we saw our litigation work on the rise—particularly in the areas of complex multi-jurisdictional disputes work and tech litigation. Our firm is recognized as a leader in trial work, and in 2021, we obtained the largest trade secrets verdict in the U.S. in a dispute involving industry leading property management software.

“Hogan Lovells has long been recognized for our strengths in key industry sectors, and we continue to be a global leader in sectors such as financial institutions, life sciences, technology, media and telecoms, and automotive.”

The firm’s record financial results follow from the focus on financial discipline and strategic growth.

Zaldivar said: “In 2021, we executed on our strategy to focus on financial discipline within our business, and we continue to expand into strategic markets and practices. Our commitment to putting clients at the center of everything we do—and our ability to deliver excellent client service across an integrated global firm—enable us to attract top lawyer talent in the markets and practices that matter most to our clients.

“We are actively expanding our offerings in areas of increased client need, including ESG, and investing in innovative services and products, particularly in legal tech.”

Even as the firm achieved record financial results, we delivered on our global commitments to D&I and responsible business.

Zaldivar said: “We view our commitments to diversity and inclusion, and responsible business, as a strategic priority on par with putting clients at the center of everything we do. At the start of 2022, we announced 27 promotions to partner level and 71 new counsel, across a network of 47+ offices in 24+ countries. I was particularly pleased that a total of 48% of our new partners and new counsel this year are women, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+.

“We are committed to playing a leadership role in driving inclusive and sustainable growth, particularly in the way we run our own business. Last year, we announced that we will be measuring our global greenhouse gas emissions and developing our firm’s net zero strategy by updating our travel, energy, and real estate policies, focusing on reducing our carbon impact.

“As the first major law firm to establish a stand-alone pro bono practice, this important work has always been integral to our culture. Last year, a Hogan Lovells trial team obtained the largest wrongful conviction verdict in U.S. history. In the UK, we recently secured a historic win in the ‘Essex 39’ case on behalf of victims of trafficking, and we are collaborating to aid refugees globally following withdrawal from Afghanistan, to name a few examples.”

Examples of major client matters handled during the course of 2021 include:

Corporate & Finance

• Oracle on its US$28.3 billion acquisition of Cerner Corporation, a leading provider of digital information systems used in hospitals and health systems.
• IBM on the global separation and reorganization of its managed infrastructure services business, ahead of its spinoff into Kyndryl.
• Accel and Eurazeo on Sorare’s record US$680 million fundraising, valuing Sorare at US$4.3 billion—the largest fundraising in the history of French Tech and the largest Series B carried out in Europe.
• VICI Properties on its US$17.2 billion strategic acquisition of MGM Growth Properties, which will create America’s largest owner of experiential real estate.
• QTS Realty Trust, a leading public data center REIT, on its sale to affiliates of The Blackstone Group in an all cash transaction valued at approximately US$10 billion.
• Marathon Group on the US$8.3 billion IPO of FixPrice Group Ltd on the Main Market of the LSE and the Moscow Exchange.
• AccorInvest on the restructuring of its €4.5 billion existing debt impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• AmerisourceBergen on its US$6.47 billion acquisition of the Alliance Healthcare wholesale pharmaceutical distribution business in Europe from Walgreens Boots Alliance.
• Senior secured lenders on inter-conditional restructuring plans for some of Virgin Active group’s English subsidiaries in a landmark restructuring case, setting precedent for the industry.
• EFIC1, one of the largest SPACs listed on Euronext Amsterdam, on its business combination with digital entertainment and media company Azerion at an enterprise value of €1.3 billion.
• Cathay Private Equity on its co-investment in the NT$75 billion 605MW Greater Changhua 1 Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan.
• Patron Capital Partners on the sale of Punch Pubs & Co, a leading owner of approximately 1,300 tenanted pubs in the UK, to private equity firm Fortress.

Litigation, Arbitration & Employment

• JSC Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, and LEPL State Agency of Oil and Gas of Georgia – Secured a historic win in a high profile, US$3.5 billion ad-hoc arbitration.
• Google in a victory before the Italian Supreme Court concerning the “right to be forgotten,” as well as victories before the courts of Rome and Milan in COVID-19 misinformation cases.
• ResMan, owner and developer of industry leading property management software, in a US$152 million trade secrets verdict and permanent injunction against a former customer and a software developer—the largest trade secrets verdict in the U.S. in 2021.
• ENRC on its high profile claims against the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and its former legal advisers Dechert and Neil Gerrard.
• Kazakhstan Kagazy Group – Secured a significant High Court win in an ongoing US$300+ million multi-jurisdictional enforcement action. The case concerns one of Central Asia’s largest paper and packaging manufacturers.
• PrivatBank in a nearly US$4 billion (inclusive of interest) fraud case against its former shareholders, Igor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov.
• Viatris in class actions relating to EpiPen® Auto-Injector products, obtaining a series of victories that have substantially benefitted the client.
• D&P China (HK) Limited (trading as Kroll, formerly known as Borrelli Walsh), as court appointed liquidators of China Metal, the first Hong Kong-listed company to be wound up by the Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong on public interest grounds, for which we obtained multibillion HK$ judgments against former employees (including a judgment in excess of HK$2 billion against the former CEO).
• Papa John’s International, Inc. in the successful dismissal of a securities class action in the Southern District of New York.

Global Regulatory & Intellectual Property, Media, and Technology (IPMT)

• AmerisourceBergen Corporation – Provided antitrust and foreign direct investment counsel on its US$6.47 billion acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s Alliance Healthcare wholesale distribution business in Europe.
• Lucira Health in securing Emergency Use Authorization for its over the counter at-home COVID-19 testing kit. This was the first time the FDA authorized any prescription molecular diagnostic test for COVID-19 that could be self-administered by patients at home or used in a physician’s office, greatly expanding the availability of this kit.
• BMW in EU cartel proceedings, one of the most extensive EU antitrust proceedings in recent years. Following several years of investigations, the Commission significantly reduced its initial allegations, clearing the way for a settlement.
• Working for multiple major pharmaceuticals clients, developed a new regulatory pathway for drug pricing based on efficacy and durability, with each price tied to a specified measurement of product performance. The pathway we developed advances an important public policy objective—value-based pricing of gene and cell therapies—and proved so attractive the U.S. government has issued a regulation that adopts and codifies it.
• Advised NRW.Bank, the investment bank for the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the privatization of its state-owned casinos and sale to the Gauselmann gambling group, one of the leading gambling groups in Germany and Europe. This complex transaction involved amending the Casino Act to allow privatization, and a large cross-practice corporate and global regulatory team worked together to bring this deal to the finish line.
• Advised automotive aftermarket manufacturer Cardone Industries and its Mexican subsidiary, Tridonex, on the complex regulatory and political dimensions of a petition filed under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRLM) of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), leading to the successful negotiation of a voluntary action plan with the U.S. Trade Representative. The petition was one of the first complaints brought under the RRLM since the USMCA came into force.
• Gilead Sciences in a collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. to co-develop and co-commercialize innovative, long-acting treatments for patients living with HIV.
• LG Energy Solution – A cross-practice team represented LG Energy Solution through its multi-year trade secret dispute over electric vehicle batteries with SK Innovation, which resulted in a US$1.8 billion settlement between the two companies.
• Asahi International, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Ocean Spray, Deutsche Telekom in managing their global trademark portfolios, as well as European and EUTM portfolios for other major brands such as Adidas, Yum! Brands (owners of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut), Mars, Estée Lauder, Starbucks, and others.

ESG

• We help our clients use the law to build a better world through sustainable business strategies via our award winning Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Group.

• The ESG Group comprises five practices:
  
  • Energy Transition – We have one of the largest green energy practices in the world. Notable representations in 2021 include SVEVIND Energy GmbH on the development, project planning, financing, and implementation of one of the world's largest green hydrogen projects, and representing Berkshire Hathaway on a first-of-its kind conversion of coal plants to a nuclear reactor.
  • Environmental – Our industry-focused approach and global footprint enable us to provide comprehensive environmental advice to clients including multiple industry leaders on their global compliance programs. We counsel on ground-breaking initiatives to address biodiversity loss, such as the Great Green Wall, and we were the only law firm to present in the Green Zone at COP26.
  • Sustainable Investment and Finance – We advise on innovative products, policies and new repo ting requirements, including Electricité de France S.A. in its world first €1.25 billion hybrid social bond issue and Hapag-Lloyd on US$1 billion in K-SURE backed green financings.
  • Social – Our advice is sought by marquee clients on the full spectrum of social issues including human supply chain issues including anti-slavery statements and compliance, and justice, equity, and diversity & inclusion matters. We are particularly known for our work on Indigenous rights, such as assisting the Walker River Paiute Tribe with a legal resolution regarding the U.S. military’s past contamination of the tribe’s reservation lands.
  • Governance and Corporate – We advise multiple blue chip corporates on the tsunami of radical changes in governance and disclosure and the full range of relevant risks, including corporate board governance, diversity, human capital management, cybersecurity risk governance, and the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The practice is led by a cross-practice and cross-sector global ESG Board and supported by our ESG Alliance of over 300 members. We have been trained to bring an ESG lens to all our advice, and provide multi-jurisdictional transactional, litigation, and regulatory advice across all industry sectors. We train and improve global knowledge, positive environmental and social impact, and compliance through our unique open source resources: the ESG Academy and ESG Global Vision.
• Through HL BaSE legal we have advised over 800 social enterprises across Asia, Europe, and North America.

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) and Responsible Business

Delivering on our commitments to Diversity & Inclusion and Responsible Business is one of our five strategic priorities, and our measures are having a positive impact. In 2021, we devoted 200,000+ hours to Responsible Business activities, including 158,000+ on pro bono legal services.

D&I 

Our partnership currently comprises 27% women partners, 12% racial/ethnic minority partners, and 2% LGBTQ+ partners.* 

• In 2020, we announced our new global goals to achieve 15% racial and ethnic minority partners and 4% LGBTQ+ partners by 2025. 
• We continue to work diligently to achieve 30% women partners globally. We are pleased that we have achieved this goal in the U.S. and the UK; that 43% of those who have been partners for five years or less are women (compared with 30% of those who have been partners for ten years or less); and that our IMC/Board and our Business Services leadership team both comprise 40% women. 
• Our lawyers are permitted to count up to 50 hours of approved D&I engagement as billable for bonus purposes. 
• We have expanded and launched sponsorship and mentoring programs around the globe for our underrepresented colleagues:
  • In the Americas, we recently launched our Americas Diversity Committee Sponsorship Program, providing practice-based sponsors and mentors for nearly 300 underrepresented lawyers. 
  • In Asia-Pacific, we have recently concluded our second cohort of our Inclusion Allies program, this time in our China and Australia offices. 
  • In the UK, we are piloting our INCLUDED development program, with training and coaching to facilitate retention of racial and ethnic minority trainees.
  • In Germany, our women counsel development program provides professional development and client networking key to the participants’ success.

• We recently launched a global disability network for colleagues with disabilities and allies to and caregivers of individuals with disabilities.
• We launched inclusive communications education covering gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, and wellbeing.
• We conducted a practice-based bias interruption education and observation pilot to embed best practices related to talent conversations, and have provided bias interruption education sessions to senior leaders.

* Global minority and LGBTQ+ goals comprise the U.S. and UK only owing to legal restrictions.

Responsible Business (operating sustainably, pro bono, community investment, fundraising
partnerships)

• We are committed to playing a leadership role in driving inclusive and sustainable growth and contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including in the way we run our own business.
• We are a signatory to UN Business Ambition 1.5˚C and Race to Zero, which commit us to develop and implement Science Based Targets to reduce our carbon emissions.
• In 2021, we launched the next stage of our global sustainability plan, which included the measurement of our global greenhouse gas emissions for 2019 and 2020.
• We reported to Carbon Disclosure Project for the first time and achieved a ‘B’ rating.
• We are developing our firm's net zero strategy, and have been updating our travel, energy, and real estate policies, focusing on reducing our carbon impact.
• We have appointed a network of Sustainability Stewards, one in each of the firm's offices globally, led by three regional Sustainability Stewards who are responsible for collecting data to meet reporting requirements. They also work with office and regional sustainability committees who are empowered to effect change on the ground.
• We provide education and training within the firm about sustainability and the steps individuals can take to make a difference.
• We use our skills to make a difference outside our firm, through pro bono legal advice and skilled volunteering on a variety of projects and partnerships focused on supporting innovation in environmental protection and advancing our sustainability goals.
• We are founding members of the Legal Sustainability Alliance and the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance.
• We advise our clients on sustainable business strategies through the work of our leading ESG practice.

• Our work supports the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through four strategic themes which guide our work: (i) advancing racial justice, (ii) empowering women and girls and supporting youth, (iii) supporting innovation in environmental protection and advancing our sustainability goals, and (iv) responding to external crises and change.
• We are fulfilling our pledge to devote at least 65,000 pro bono hours through 2023 to breaking down the deeply rooted, systemic barriers in society that profoundly impact people of color. By the end of 2021, we had already reached 70 percent of our goal, focusing on criminal justice, voting rights, and economic and housing issues.
• A Hogan Lovells trial team secured a verdict of US$75 million on behalf of two brothers who were wrongfully convicted of murder, sentenced to death, and spent 31 years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. The verdict is the largest in U.S. history in a wrongful conviction case.
• We secured a historic win in the “Essex 39” case for Pacific Links Foundation. The Bruges Court of First Instance ruled that a damages award should be made in favor of a number of victims who tragically died having been trafficked to the UK via Belgium.
• We continued to advise the CLANN Project, a joint initiative with Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA) and Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR), on the widespread forced adoptions of children born to single mothers in Ireland between 1922 and 1998. In January 2021, the Irish Government issued a formal apology.
• We are collaborating to aid refugees globally following withdrawal from Afghanistan, advising on evacuation efforts, visa applications, humanitarian aid, and other legal and logistical support to help these efforts to achieve intermediate and final resettlement.
• We are representing five families in the Manchester Arena public inquiry, which looks into the deaths of victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.

• We hosted a documentary and panel discussion of the Great Green Wall at COP26 in Glasgow, highlighting the ambitious African-led project to build an 8,000km corridor of plants and trees in the Sahel region at the southern border of the Sahara Desert. The documentary features singer and artist Inna Modja, who traveled the proposed route, uncovering the human stories that highlight the urgency of the climate crisis.
• Rewilding project – Hogan Lovells is supporting a pioneering nature conservation initiative to transform vast land areas into wild nature. The firm is providing financial and pro bono support to four major organizations across Europe to enable the scaling of rewilding—a systematic, nature-based solution to tackle climate change through peatland restoration.
• We collaborated with The Economist Educational Foundation to create teaching resources focused on climate change, rewilding, and ongoing projects.
• We have a three-year global partnership with PeaceTech Lab which, in addition to fundraising, includes a global pro bono project tackling "hate speech"; a global COVID-19 violence tracker project; and a Road to Justice project, which aligns with the firm's commitment to Advancing Racial Justice.
• We launched a global COVID-19 emergency fundraising appeal to support our longstanding partner Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders which raised US$38,000+ to bring life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable people worldwide.
• We also launched a global emergency fundraising appeal in support of the International Rescue Committee, which raised US$62,000, including a firm match, for their work in Afghanistan.
• We continue to support leading social enterprise Barefoot College, which provides a sustainable model for tackling energy poverty across emerging markets.