National firm Shoosmiths has said it is reaping the benefits of narrowing its work profile as it announced a small profit rise.

The firm revealed today that in the year to 31 March, profit increased by 4% to £80m while turnover was up by 2% to £221.4m. Profit per equity partner rose by 3% to £1.04m – only the second time this metric has reached seven figures.

During the year, Shoosmiths offloaded its serious injury business but acted on more complex and higher-value work across its corporate, litigation and real estate sectors.

David Jackson, chief executive, said: ‘The business remains highly focused and disciplined, with profit growth again outpacing revenue growth. That matters because it gives us the capacity to keep investing in our people and technology, so we can deliver even better outcomes for our clients.

‘It also sends a clear signal to the market about the firm we are building: one increasingly focused on complex, higher-value work where clients need judgement, pace and confidence from their advisers with matters spanning complex cross-border private equity and major real estate deals to heavyweight litigation and restructuring mandates.’

Shoosmiths said that central to this pledge was a renewed commitment to achieve ‘AI fluency’ across the firm.

The business last year offered a £1m bonus to staff for generating one million AI prompts and will make a further £1m available in the coming year based on client service, productivity and lawyer development. Its multi-million-pound programme includes Project Apollo, a generative AI-powered contract review platform built with Microsoft.

Kirsten Hewson, Shoosmiths chair, added: ‘Clients are dealing with more complexity, more pressure and more change. They want advisers who bring sound judgement, commerciality and pace, alongside the confidence to use technology where it genuinely improves outcomes.’