Partners at Britain’s ten biggest law firms took home an average of £1.1 million in profits last year.

Rapid international expansion and aggressive cost controls lifted profit per equity partner (PEP) of the top ten firms by 28 per cent in 2008, according to the annual law firm survey published today by PriceWaterhouse Coopers.

Those partners in firms ranked 11th to 25th made PEP of £617,000, which dropped to £457,000 at the 26th to 50th-largest firms.

And the gap between the top ten and the rest of the market is set to widen as lawyers begin to feel the impact of the financial crisis, the report said.

“More than any other year, the survey results are striking in that they highlight how effectively financial and operational planning have enabled some firms to move significantly ahead of the competition,” it said.

“With difficult economic conditions already prevailing, it is these firms that will be best placed to manage through the downturn.”

The report, which provides a rare and detailed view into the often secretive business of commercial law firms, showed that partners at the top ten firms billed an average of £2.9 million last year, with the top dealmakers bringing in as much as £5 million in fees.

That was significantly ahead of productivity at the next tier of firms, whose partners billed an average of £1.8 million.

Alistair Rose, head of the Professional Partnerships Advisory Group at PWC, said that the biggest firms had tightened their hold on the market through an increased focus on efficient management.

"You can see the larger firms have invested substantially in practices that have allowed them to create clear blue water between them and the next tranche," Mr Rose said.

That included shedding unproductive equity partners, increasing the ratio of younger lawyers and support staff to partners and investing heavily in technology.

The top ten firms spent an average of £21 million on information technology last year, the report said, compared to £6.6 million for the second tier and £2.4 million for the third tier.

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