Osborne Clarke has seen revenues drop by 12% for the 2008-09 financial year while profits per equity partner (PEP) have plunged by 36%.

Revenue for the last financial year stood at £84m down from £95m the previous year. PEP now stands at £352,000 compared with £554,000 in 2007-08. Taking the drop into account it means that the 23 partners at the top of the equity will earn £450,000, while those at the bottom will make £230Save and Publish,000.

By practice, corporate was the biggest earner bringing in £19.4m in revenues, litigation brought in £16.8m, while property and commercial brought in £12.9m apiece.

Simon Beswick, managing partner at Osborne Clarke, said: "As a strong mid-market transactions business our results this year obviously reflect the wider downturn in the market, particularly when compared to the deal flow of 2007-8."

"We continue to invest and innovate for the long term. We've invested in our key sectors, such as financial services, energy & natural resources and digital business with strategic partner hires."

Yesterday (14 July) Bird & Bird reported revenues that defied the downturn, with turnover growing by just under 30% during the last financial year.

The top 25 firm posted gross revenues of £186.3m during 2008-09, a 29.6% increase on the £143.7m brought in during 2007-08.

Despite the turnover growth PEP fell over the period and stood at £481,000 for the year, representing a 6.5% drop on the previous year's figure of £515,000.