Ten equity partners are to leave Ashurst's equity this year in the face of continuing economic pressures.
The partners come from a number of practice areas and span both the firm's London headquarters and international offices.
It is believed that some of the 10 include partners who have chosen to retire for lifestyle reasons, though one former partner on Wednesday described the departing group as being generally "mid-ranked" within the firm's equity.
Ashurst has 223 partners globally with around 140 equity partners. The firm announced in November that its revenues had grown annually by 7.5 percent in the first half of the current financial year.
The 2007-2008 period saw Ashurst post a record-breaking year with profits per equity partner breaking through 1 million pound ($1.4 million) mark while revenue increased 17.5 percent to 323 million pounds ($451.3 million).
However, despite achieving significant growth in recent years, the firm's key practice areas such as private equity, leveraged finance and structured lending have been hard hit by the prolonged turmoil in the credit markets.
News of the partner cuts come on the same day that national leader Addleshaw Goddard confirmed that it was to ask 19 partners to leave the firm -- representing 10 percent of the firm's partnership.
Addleshaw said the cuts would affect all of the firm's offices in London, Leeds and Manchester and all four practice divisions -- finance and projects, real estate, corporate, and contentious and commercial.
Ashurst declined to comment.
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