Linklaters partners earn £1m

Top equity partners at Linklaters & Alliance will make over £1m for the first time this year.`The firm is set to post record figures, with turnover leaping from £395m in 1999-2000 to some £505m - a 28 per cent rise. Indications are that top equity partners, who last year drew £925,000, will make around £1.05m, while average profits per partner have increased from last year's figure of £710,000 to over £800,000.`Figures are still to be finalised, but Linklaters becomes the third magic circle firm where the partners at the top of lockstep will earn over £1m. Last year's The Lawyer 100 reported that top Slaughter and May partners would earn £1.2m and plateau partners at Allen & Overy (A&O) would draw £1.08m. But all three operate a different shareout. The length of the partnership track at A&O means that few partners are at the top of equity, while Slaughters proportionally has many more partners at the top.`All the magic circle firms have had record years. The Lawyer has already revealed that Clifford Chance's global turnover was just shy of £1bn at £915m, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's gross fees are understood to be some £625m. Linklaters' turnover also includes four months worth of Oppenhoff & Rädler's fees after the merger in January this year. Both Clifford Chance and Freshfields have also had their turnovers boosted by German mergers.`Linklaters declined to comment.