Norton Rose's turnover rose very slightly this year after two static years at £205m. A 2 per cent increase pushed fees up to £210m, while average PEP rose 5 per cent to £425,000.

The increases may be signs that Norton Rose is beginning to recover from several unstable years, although the exit of a four-partner capital markets team to Baker & McKenzie (B&M), revealed by The Lawyer in May 2005, suggests otherwise. Chief executive Peter Martyr's strategy of concentrating on finance has yet to instil real confidence ± in the market at least - that Norton Rose is genuinely on the road to recovery.

There were other indications during the year that Norton Rose has yet to escape its woes. At the end of 2004 its Cologne office finally broke off, as partners decamped en masse to CMS Hasche Sigle. Cologne had been the firm's entry into Germany, the legacy of German independent firm Gaedertz, and through Cologne Norton Rose had managed to establish offices in Frankfurt and Munich. But what Norton Rose's management wanted to do and what the Cologne team wanted to do clearly did not gel.

Norton Rose does still have several standout practice areas. Its Islamic finance practice has grown rapidly and has a deserved reputation in the Middle East, with partners based in Dubai and Bahrain. There are also three partners practising Islamic finance in Singapore.

Financial institutions, now led by partner James Bateson, is also achieving strong results, with 30 per cent year-on-year growth between 2004 and 2005.

The growth in finance is coming at the expense of other practice areas, however. Litigation, for instance, dropped 3 per cent in 2004-05 and now accounts for just 14 per cent of total turnover.