Fee income at City firm Simmons & Simmons fell by 16% in the first half of the financial year, the firm reported today.

The drop, to £120.3m in the six months to 31 October, from £143.5m over the same period in 2008/09, was blamed on the costs of redundancy payments and the firm’s office closures in Portugal and Russia.

A Simmons & Simmons spokesman said that its contentious group was performing best across employment, financial and intellectual property.

For the full financial year 2008/09, the firm’s revenues rose slightly from £289m to £291m but profits per equity partner fell by 20% to £520,000.