Through a combination of law firm submissions and in-depth market research, Africa Legal and Law.com International are compiling a ranking of the 50 largest law firms in Africa by lawyer headcount, as well as insight on current and future trends impacting legal services on the continent.

The rankings are designed to offer unique competitive intelligence and enable your firm to compare its bench strength to those of other firms on the continent, as well as international firms operating in the region.

When the 2022 rankings were released at the African Legal Awards last year, not much had changed in the top five firms from the previous year, but there were some notable shiftings, with three new entrants to the list. They reached the threshold for admission either through organic growth, mergers or alignment with the criteria to be considered a single firm for the purposes of the rankings. The new entrants were ALN (sixth place), CMS (19) and Barnard Incorporated Attorneys (tied for 47). 

Firms which made both the 2021 and 2022 rankings grew on average by 7.78 fee earners in this period, compared with a growth rate of 7.5 from 2020 into 2021.

South African firms continued to dominate, with six of last year’s top ten being headquartered in Johannesburg. In total, 16 South African firms made the Top 50 last year. Firms recognised as “international” comprised the next largest cohort, with 11 making the grade for the 2022 rankings. This was matched in number by 11 Nigerian firms, with Olaniwun & Ajayi the largest of these (117 fee earners) and Ajumogobia & Okeke the smallest (28 fee earners). Kenya, Egypt and Angola each had three of their law firms in the 2022 rankings, with one-a-piece from firms headquartered in Ghana, Canada and Mozambique completing the list. 

In total, 5 434 lawyers were employed within the Top 50 firms in 2021, up from 4 289 in 2019 – an increase of over 1 000 lawyers, indicating both strong development and consolidation within Africa’s largest law firms. 

For the full Africa Top 50 2022 rankings click here. The full Africa Top 50 rankings for 2023 will be released in at the African Legal Awards 2023 at a glittering ceremony in Johannebsurg, South Africa on 1 September. For more information on the awards, click here.

If your firm has a minimum of 20 full-time lawyers and you feel it could be considered for inclusion in the Top 50, please contact Thomas Pearson here to discuss participation.

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