SJ Berwin paid out £1.23m to its top-earning partner in 2008-09, even though average profits per equity partner for the same year fell by almost 50% to £410,000.

Details of the payout, which is only £40,000 less than the amount the firm's highest-paid member received the previous year, are contained within the firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts filed with Companies House.

In a statement, the firm said: "This is an unusual situation that straddled two years."

The accounts also show that the profit available to distribute to members fell from £76m in 2008 to just under £38m last year.

Total lawyer and support staff numbers increased over the year, along with salaries, with the numbers not yet showing the impact of a February 2009 redundancy round that saw around 20 fee earners and 20 support staff lose their jobs, as well as the closure of the firm's four-partner media team.

In total SJ Berwin employed 1,103 staff during 2009 compared with 1,020 in 2008, with wages and salary costs up from £63.4m in 2008 to £69.5m in 2009 and total employee costs (including pension and social security) hitting £79m, up from just under £72m.

The accounts show that of the firm's total turnover of £183.5m in 2008-09, Europe contributed a greater proportion than during the previous year. European turnover stood at £55.9m, equating to around 30% of total revenues, compared with £55.4m (26%) in 2007-08.

As previously reported by Legal Week, SJ Berwin has withheld a number of its quarterly partner profit distributions over the last year, with the firm's accounts stating that it pays out only a conservative level of monthly drawings to partners while further distributions are made once the results for the year and allocation of profits have been finalised.

The 49% partner profits fall in 2008-09 came on the back of a 14% drop in turnover from £215m to £184m.

SJ Berwin on the Legal Week Wiki