Macfarlanes drops out of million-pound club as PEP falls to £846,000

The silver circle firm has posted a 31 per cent drop in PEP, with the figure falling from £1.1m at the end of 2007-08 to £846,000 in the 2008-09 financial year.

Total revenue at Macfarlanes was down 11 per cent from £110m to £99m.

The firm’s senior partner Charles Martin said the firm’s numbers did not include any LLP accounting adjustments.

“They reflect a downturn in important practice areas such as private equity and real estate and an increase in equity partner numbers,” Martin added.

In June, Macfarlanes launched its second redundancy consultation, putting 14 support staff and one professional support lawyer under review as a result of market conditions (11 June 2009).

So far this year Ashurst, Clifford Chance and Herbert Smith have all posted average profits below £1m in contrast with last year’s peak.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Slaughter and May currently remain the only millionaires in the UK market.