CC, Freshfields and A&O report fewer promotions, while number of women made up across group drops by 60% 

The number of new partners promoted across the magic circle has fallen by 17% this year, with three of the five elite UK firms making up fewer partners in 2013 than they did in 2012.

Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters this week became the last of the group to announce their new partner promotions for 2013, with CC's 20-strong haul marking a decrease of more than 25% on the 27 the firm made up last year.

In total, 79 partners have been made up across the five-firm group this year, down from 95 in 2012. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer saw the biggest decline in new partners at 30%, ahead of CC, while A&O made up 17% fewer partners this year than last. 

Numbers stayed static at Slaughters, with only Linklaters bucking the trend with 24 new partners compared with 23 last year. 

As was the case in 2012, six have joined Linkaters' City partnership, with New York and Asia gaining two apiece, Dubai one and the remainder split across continental Europe. 

Meanwhile, five of CC's new partners are based in London, with the bulk of the remainder spread across continental Europe, alongside three in Asia, one in the Middle East and one in the US. 

This year's promotions highlight the continued struggle for female lawyers at the top of the profession, with the number of women made up across the five firms dropping sharply this year – down almost 60% to 11 from 25 last year.

In 2012, A&O significantly bolstered gender diversity among its partnership with nine female promotions. However, this year it made up two women in a 19-strong round. 

CC promoted seven female lawyers in 2012 compared with two this time round, while the number of female promotions at Linklaters halved from six to three. Freshfields' total of three female partners was the same as last year, while one of the two new partners at Slaughters this year was female.

Broken down by geography, 25 (32%) of this year's magic circle promotions are in London, compared with 23% last year. Eleven partners (14%) have been made up in Asia, down from 16 (17%) in 2012, following a year in which many firms have scaled back their operations in the much-touted region amid a slowdown in work levels.

Commenting on the trends, A&O managing partner Wim Dejonghe said: "The desire to be a partner has not gone away and the quality of people is still incredibly high. 

"While the female partner figures are not good this year there is a degree of volatility in those figures from one year to the next, but we expect to see those numbers stabilise in the years ahead and the number of female partners going up."