Taylor Wessing cut staff costs by 17% during the last financial year after reducing staff headcount at the firm.

The Anglo-German firm's UK limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts for 2009-10 show a drop in total staff costs from £37.4m to £31m. This comes against a 12% reduction in headcount, with total staff numbers dropping from 541 to 476.

Support staff numbers fell from 262 to 227 – a drop of 13%. Meanwhile, fee earner numbers dipped by 9% from 258 to 235.