Partner Profit Plunged 17% at UK’s 50 Biggest Firms Over Past Fiscal Year

Although revenue is up nearly 3 percent at the United Kingdom's top 50 law firms, equity partner profit has plunged an average of 17 percent over the past fiscal year as the legal industry struggles to cope with the dismal economy.

"I don't think the industry has ever seen a drop in volume like this," managing partner Wim Dejonghe of Allen & Overy tells Legal Week. And, although the the economic freefall triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year seems to have leveled off, a swift recovery to former levels of profitability is not expected, he and others say.

Some firms, of course, have done better than others. Those that focus their practice on the insurance industry have done best, with an overall increase in equity partner profit of 7.2%, the legal publication recounts. The five elite London-based "magic circle" law firms also have done better than the top 50 on average. seeing only a 12.3% profit plunge.