Top 30 US law firm Reed Smith has posted the best financial results in its 145-year history for 2021, with global revenue increasing 9.6% to hit $1.44bn and profit per equity partner (PEP) rising by 13.4% to reach $1.74m.

The firm's London office – its largest – had a standout year, growing revenue by 13.5% from $214m to $243m at the same time that its lawyers logged 27,300 pro bono hours from the firm’s total of 88,000.

Tamara Box, Reed Smith’s managing partner for Europe and the Middle East, described client demand, which “was not surprisingly high in uncertain times” as a key factor in the firm’s success along with the “high calibre of legal talent across the firm”.

She added: “We are doing more complex work that is more critical to and valued by our clients than ever before.”

Box said the performance of the London office “reflects the firm’s global strategy of aligning our offering to key industries, including transportation, entertainment and media, financial services and energy and natural resources.

“To have recorded what is our best year financially while at the same time giving back by increasing our pro bono hours significantly is a real testament to the strength of our people, our culture and our service to clients,” she added.

Over the past year the Pittsburgh-based firm, which also saw revenue per lawyer (RPL) go up 12.6% from $811,000 to $913,000, has added to its offices around the globe. The new recruits have included a pair of disputes partners from Stephenson Harwood, with energy and infrastructure specialist Timothy Cooke joining in Singapore last May and James Willn bolstering the firm’s energy and natural resources team in Dubai in October.

In July the firm also hired Legal Metrics CEO and former Winston & Strawn chief information officer David Cunningham in Houston as its first innovation head, just a few months after it added a quartet of corporate partners to its 70-lawyer office in the city from US rival Baker Botts.

Top 10 US firm Sidley Austin recorded a 13.5% increase in revenue to $2.795bn last month against a 20% increase in PEP to $3.718m. Top 40 outfit Dechert, meanwhile, posted a 25% revenue increase to $1.341bn with PEP up 49% to $4.231m, according to data provided to Law.com.