Dewey Ballantine has seen a 14% rise in profits per equity partner (PEP) as the New York firm gears up to vote on its proposed merger with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Dewey today (18 October) unveiled the results for its last financial year – which ended on 30 September – with PEP reaching $1.4m (£751,000), up from $1.23m (£660,000) in 2005.

The improvement in partner profits comes despite a modest gain in fee income, which edged up by 4% to hit a new mark of $408.2m (£218.8m) from the previous year's figure of $392.5m (£210.4m).

The results, which come as the US legal elite benefits from a boom in big-ticket M&A work, will be closely watched ahead of Dewey's proposed merger with Orrick, which is expected to be put to a partner vote by the end of the year. If approved, the merger would create a global giant with almost 1,500 lawyers and revenues approaching $1bn (£535m).

Orrick last year saw PEP hit $1.24m (£670,000) with turnover at the West Coast giant climbing to a figure of $554m (£298m).

Dewey chairman Morton Pierce said: "The last financial year has been good to us – great work for old clients, ground-breaking work for new clients and a solid financial performance. We are looking to continue in this vein in 2006-07."