Olswang's highest paid member took home £681,000 last year according to limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts recently filed with Companies House.

The accounts show that the firm's operating profit fell from £31.6m in 2009-10 to £29.3m last year, while staff costs increased to £32.7m in 2010-11, up from £31.5m the previous year.

The number of non-fee earning staff employed each month increased by 5% to 506 in 2010-11, up from 484 in 2009-10, with the monthly average number of members throughout the year decreasing slightly from 100 to 97 in 2010-11.

Separately, Charles Russells' accounts show that the amount received by the highest paid member fell by nearly 28% from £404,767 in 2009-10 to £293,046 in 2010-11. The firm said that the drop was the result of the 2009-10 payment including a provision to a retired partner.

The accounts also show that the number of members fell from 95 in 2009-10 to 90 last year, with fee earner numbers, excluding partners, growing from 215 to 220 respectively.

The firm's accounts also show details of the tax implication of the creation of a new service company in April 2010. The firm paid £545,468 in tax in 2010-11 as a result of the formation of the service company housing the majority of staff from the LLP.

The firm's revenue increased by 2.1% in 2010-11 to £64.5m, with profits per equity partner climbing by 2.7% to £235.4m.

Charles Russell chief operating officer Andy Staite said: "We were happy with our performance in 2010-11 and it was in line with our budget.

"Fee income for the first half of 2011-12 was around 7% up on the previous year and although we were expecting tougher conditions in the second half we hope to achieve budget this year also."