Revolut says law firms must earn their place on its panel every quarter

Revolut is overhauling how it manages external legal advisers, with legal chief Tom Hambrett announcing the company will replace its traditional law firm panel with what he described as a “dynamic, performance-based ecosystem”.

In a LinkedIn post, Hambrett said the fintech no longer believes the conventional static panel model reflects how legal services should be bought or managed.

“The traditional law firm panel became the default because everyone was doing it,” Hambrett wrote. “I’ll admit - when I first adopted it, I didn’t stop to ask whether it was actually right for us.”

Under the Revolut Partners structure, firms will be assessed against performance metrics, pricing competitiveness and engagement with Revolut’s products. Quarterly reviews will determine whether firms retain their place in the roster.

“No one partner’s position in the starting lineup is guaranteed,” Hambrett wrote.

Data over relationships

Hambrett said Revolut is building a bench of alternative advisers ready to replace incumbent firms if performance standards fall.

He defined underperformance as poor client management, unmanaged scope creep, weak billing practices and slow responsiveness alongside concerns around advice quality.

Hambrett also said Revolut is building internal AI tools to support legal procurement and oversight processes. According to the post, the tools will help lawyers run RFPs, pre-select firms for specific mandates and scrutinise both legal advice and invoices.

Historically, panel selection and retention often relied heavily on partner relationships, institutional familiarity and reputation. Hambrett suggested those dynamics are weakening.

“Firms can no longer solely rely on soft relationship touch points to keep their place in the squad,” he wrote.

Firms can no longer solely rely on soft relationship touch points to keep their place in the squad.

The comments reflect growing pressure on one of the core assumptions underpinning law firm economics: that deep client relationships create durable loyalty.

Revolut’s approach appears to push against that model, treating external firms less as long-term relationship partners and more as continuously benchmarked service providers.

Hambrett said that relationships still matter, but framed them as secondary to execution.

“The firms that make our shortlist will be the ones that consistently deliver the right outcomes, at the right pace, at the right pace, with the right commercial discipline,” he wrote.

Industry reaction

The announcement sparked debate within the legal community around the future of law firm panels, client relationships and partner economics.

One commenter wrote: “The firms with genuine market leverage will simply opt out. They have less demanding clients and simply might not need this,” adding “it takes two to tango”.

An executive search recruiter wrote: “Have you stopped to consider how difficult this will make it for lateral partners to talk about their book of business?”

A UK-based lawyer wrote: “I don’t agree with the notion that Revolut is best served by playing off panel firms against each other,” adding “the real value of external advisers lies in their more nuanced understanding of a client’s business that is only attainable through close and enduring collaboration”.

The commenter suggested that if Revolut wants better output from its panel, it would “be better off working more collaboratively with a designated firm and ensuring that the talent at that firm is assigned to your account for the long term.”

Revolut’s rapid rise

Revolut has become one of the UK’s fastest-growing financial services companies, reporting $6 billion in revenue last year, up 46% on 2024.

The fintech finally secured its long-awaited UK banking licence in March after completing the mobilisation phase that followed preliminary approval in 2024, a process that enlisted Linklaters.

Revolut was valued at $75 billion in its most recent funding round last year, making it one of Europe’s most valuable private technology companies.