Hammonds’ well-documented difficulties during the past two years led to an equity partner lock-in at the beginning of 2005-06, so all promotions since then have been into the junior layer – although, as from 2004- 05, junior partners also have to provide a certain amount of capital to the firm, usually between £20,000 and £30,000 each.

The firm has made 35 promotions in the past three years. These have been across the board, although the employment and pensions groups have done the best; each has made up four partners in three years. Real estate has also been a consistent promoter, with two in 2003-04, one in 2004-05 and two in 2005-06. Laterals have tended to be across the board. London has got the most internal partners, though, in most recent times, with five in 2005-06. The most prolific office has been Birmingham, with a total of 10 partner promotions in three years. This compares with nine in Leeds, eight in London and seven in Manchester.