Top 50 law firm results 2009: magic circle and insurance firms shine as strongest performers buck the slump

The UK's top law firms have suffered a dramatic fall in profitability and a shrinking market in what has been confirmed as the worst trading conditions for the profession since the early 1990s.

Legal Week's 2008-09 results, the first comprehensive picture of the performance of the UK's top 50 law firms, shows that profits per equity partner (PEP) across the group on average fell by 17.3%.

Driven by the strength of the euro and dollar, the top 50 as a whole managed to grow revenues against 2008, with total revenues up 2.9% to £12.3bn. In real terms, however, the top 50 saw a minor dip in revenue.