SJ Berwin is on track to repay its withheld partner distributions within a year, with the first two monthly instalments paid out as planned.

Partners have indicated that at the current rate, the firm could pay back the money due to partners within 10 months after beginning repayments in March 2010. This would be in line with initial hopes by management, which had targeted paying back the whole sum within one year.

The top 20 UK law firm owed partners a total of £18m in unpaid partner profit distributions in February this year, after the firm decided on a conservative approach to cash management, holding back the majority of quarterly distributions since November 2008.

The decision came after the firm posted severely declining profits for the 2008-09 financial year, when profits per equity partner nearly halved to £410,000.

However, improvement in the firm's core areas has led to a recovery in activity of late, particularly in private equity. SJ Berwin confirmed that payments were going ahead as planned.

Meanwhile, CMS Cameron McKenna has confirmed that it has run behind on "one or two" quarterly profit distributions that were due in the 2009-10 financial year.

Managing partner Duncan Weston said the firm would have fully distributed the amount outstanding by the end of this calendar year, or by the first quarter of 2011 at the latest.

He commented: "The firm maintains a positive cash position and a robust distribution policy this year. We distribute profit to members as and when it is prudent to do so, just like any other business."

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