Tollers

Tollers stemmed the backwards tide in 2011–12, recording a flat turnover figure of £8.4m.

This was despite a significant cut in fee earners, from 84 to 66.

But the steady decline of recent years was halted and Tollers recorded a net profit of £917,000 — putting its profit margin at almost 11 per cent.

The firm was also able to increase lawyer numbers from 37 in 2010–11 to 44 in 2011–12. However, this had an impact on revenue-per-lawyer numbers, which fell by 18 per cent to £192,000.

Tollers operates a two-tier partnership system, with 11 full equity partners remunerated via lockstep and a further eight non-equity partners — up one from the previous financial year.

The equity spread was £72,000–£96,000.

The firm has a 10-partner litigation team, which is the key fee generator, raking in 63 per cent (£5.3m) of total turnover, supported by £1.3m (16.4 per cent) from property and £1.2m (14.4 per cent) from the five-partner private client team. Corporate made up the remainder with £500,000 in gross fees for 2011–12.