At the dawn of this year’s financial reporting season, it appears that the UK’s top corporate law firms have become a little coy. Of the four major firms that have announced results so far, not one has released figures for all three key financial performance indicators: revenue, profit, and profit per equity partner (PEP).

CMS Cameron McKenna, the first major firm to release results, is the only firm to date to have reported profits – but no figure is given for PEP. At Eversheds and Lovells, we have PEP and revenue figures, but no figure for overall profits. At Ashurst – which has released the most guarded report to date – we have only a revenue figure.

Fair enough, these are all preliminary reports of unaudited results. But I remember a lot of noise in the City at the same stage last year, when record results were reported alongside glowing statements from senior and managing partners.

There could be one reason for withholding certain indicators. Having both a PEP figure and a profit figure allows you to calculate the number of equity partners in a firm; and therefore, how many equity partners there are following a redundancy consultation or equity restructuring.

What is abundantly clear is that these four firms, all within the top 15 firms in the UK in terms of revenue, have suffered as a result of the economic downturn. It is perhaps surprising, however, that revenue falls have been lower than some might have expected. As results continue to roll in over the next couple of weeks – whether firms choose to report on all financial indicators or not – we will be able to paint the bigger picture.