With more and more law firms reducing their equity partner ratios, Gerard Starkey speaks to leading practices about their conflicting views on the trend and asks how they can avoid mutiny in the ranks of unhappy 'up and comers'

For disgruntled lawyers increasingly worried about whether they will ever join the hallowed ranks of their firm's equity partnership, DWF and Wragge & Co are helpful case studies on the sometimes polarised attitudes of legal sector employers.

DWF has gatecrashed the UK top 20 following a spurt of mergers, including the pre-pack purchase of Cobbetts, but it has the lowest equity partner proportion of any firm in the top 50. Out of an average partner number last year of 285, only 59 held equity, just 21% of the partnership.