National firms are failing to turn rising partner profitability into increases in productivity, according to Legal Week research, which shows the regions’ top lawyers still lagging well behind City rivals.

The results, which are drawn from Legal Week‘s 2003-04 UK top 50 table, show that the top 10 national firms saw profits per equity partner (PEP) increase by an average of 3.5%, compared with the top 50 average of 6%.