Partnership promotions at top 25 UK firms have risen to their highest level in years, in one of the clearest indications yet that the legal elite is opening up the partner-ship door following years of sustained economic downturn.

Many of the UK's largest firms have announced record numbers of partner promotions, with magic circle firms Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O) both making up more than 30 lawyers and national firm Eversheds announcing a record haul of 24.

CC's 37 promotions mark the firm's biggest promotion round in recent years, while A&O's figure of 33 is its highest-ever tally. A&O led a group of four major London firms to unveil their partner promotions late last week.

Lovells this week announced it was making up 18 partners, up from 12 last year, while national firms Hammonds and Wragge & Co have promoted 17 and six associates respectively.

Numbers coming in as Legal Week went to press also saw Taylor Wessing set to promote 17 partners firm-wide, against 11 the previous year, while Osborne Clarke doubled its 2005 promotions to eight.

The moves come as a survey by Legal Week this week found that more than 50% of top City firms were expecting to make up more partners than last year, with nearly one in four partners admitting that the state of the market in any given year has a significant impact on the number of assistants promoted to partner.

David Frank, practice partner at Slaughter and May, said: "The most important thing is that you are promoting people who can grow the business."

The hikes in promotions come after many of the biggest UK firms, including CC, Linklaters, A&O, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughters last year saw their partnership sizes decrease or remain static over the 12-month period.

However, the buoyant promotions round remains short of CC's 72-strong tally in 2000, an all-time record for the legal profession.

Click on the icon below for a rundown of the figures released to date.