The U.K.’s top law firms have managed a major rebound in profitability this year despite the aftermath of the global recession handing the group its first collective fall in revenues in recent memory.

Legal Week‘s 2009-10 results, the first comprehensive picture of the performance of the U.K.’s top 50 law firms, shows revenues across the group fell by 461 million pounds, from 12.33 billion pounds in 2009 to 11.87 billion pounds.