Solicitors at top 50 law firms are earning nearly 20% more in fees than they were a year ago, new research has found.On average, each fee-earner in the top 50 firms brought in £77,000 in the quarter ended 30 April, compared with £65,000 over the same period in 2009, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) UK Law Firms’ Quarterly Survey, released today.
By contrast, solicitors in top 51 to top 100 firms saw average fees per fee-earner drop by 4% to £43,000 from £45,000 over the same period.
Fee-earners among the top 10 firms each brought in an average of £96,000 in the quarter to 30 April, up 23% on the £78,000 they earned over the same period last year. For firms in the top 11 to 25, the rise was 20% (to £72,000 from £60,000), and for firms in the top 26 to 50, the rise was 12% (to £64,000 from £57,000).
PwC partner David Snell suggested that top 50 firms had ‘significant surplus capacity’ before they started cutting jobs. Despite headcount reductions, the total number of hours billed did not change dramatically over the year.
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