Challenging? Interesting, perhaps? Pick your recessionary euphemism. Actually, topsy-turvy seems to more accurately reflect the year of highs, lows and contradictions that 2009-10 proved to be.
The UK top 50 hit its first absolute contraction in fee income since Legal Week began tracking its results, with total fees falling 4% from £12.3bn to £11.9bn after last year’s exchange rate-assisted growth. Yet the group as a whole, having cut hundreds of millions of pounds from its cost base while trimming equity partner ranks, managed a considerable rebound in partner profits.
