Arbitration boutique Three Crowns (3C) has seen average profit per equity partner (PEP) soar in its first year of business to between £1.3m and £1.6m, with its seven equity partners’ take home pay now rivalling that of magic circle plateau partners.

Founding partner and former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London arbitration head Constantine Partasides QC told The Lawyer 3C had acted on more than 100 instructions in its first year and the amount in dispute in 30 per cent of those cases exceeded $1bn.

Its clients include ExxonMobil, Boeing and BP. The firm won a spot on BP’s niche specialist legal panel in July 2014, just months after 3C was created.

“We have been overwhelmed by the market’s response to the firm, particularly in terms of clients we wanted to attract and who has trusted us with their most significant cases,” said Partasides.

3C is now made up of 40 lawyers across three offices in London, Paris and Washington DC.

The six founding partners left “comfortable jobs” in the arbitration practices of Freshfields, Covington & Burling, Jones Day and Shearman & Sterling to set up the boutique last February.

The exits marked one of the biggest litigation shakeups in the market that year.

Giorgos Petrochilos left his role at Freshfields’ Paris office alongside Partasides and co-arbitration chair Jan Paulsson; Gaetan Verhoosel left the Covington & Burling partnership; Todd Wetmore left Shearman’s Paris office and Luke Sobota left Jones Day.

3C subsequently hired Covington partner Carmen Martinez Lopez to its equity six months later.

While Petrochilos, Partasides and Paulsson were at Freshfields the top of equity sat at £1.63m. That figure has since climbed to £1.9m in the 2014/15 financial year. Freshfields’ top of equity is understood to be the highest in the magic circle: Clifford Chance’s plateau is currently £1.3m, Allen & Overy’s sits at £1.78m and Linklaters’ top of equity is £1.77m.

3C will file the consolidated accounts for its three offices for the first time in 2016. Its most recent filing covers its UK and Paris offices only.