Revenue growth at law firms with operations in some cases around the world slowed in the third quarter of this year, while expenses picked up, according to a quarterly snapshot by Citi Private Bank.

Revenue growth at law firms with operations in some cases around the world slowed in the third quarter of this year, while expenses picked up, according to a quarterly snapshot by Citi Private Bank.

The US bank tracked the financial performance of a total of 189 firms, including 10 global firms, 19 international firms (US-headquartered with international operations); 64 national US organisations and 85 regional US firms.

This publication has been told that a significant number of the sample operate private client work of the sort relevant to the global wealth management sector. As many firms are privately owned and not obliged to report results in the nature of a listed company, timely data on performance is often hard to obtain, so the Citi figures provide a useful barometer on the sector’s health.

“Demand growth picked up from the first half of 2014, despite the increased hurdle created by the improving demand environment in 2013. Rate growth remained steady from the first half of 2104,” the report said. “Lawyer headcount growth increased modestly from 1H’14. Equity partner headcount growth gained more momentum from 1H’14 than lawyer headcount growth, resulting in slowed attorney leverage growth,” it added.