Nabarro's pension deficit has reduced by more than 50% from £31.9m to £12.2m, according to limited liability partnership accounts for the year ending April 2016.

The accounts show that the firm, which is due to merge with CMS Cameron McKenna and Olswang on 1 May next year, paid in £4.4m into the scheme during the last financial year in a bid to clear the deficit more quickly than a 19-year recovery plan agreed in 2014.

It has also paid in £5.25m since April 2016, further speeding up efforts to deal with the deficit ahead of the forthcoming merger.

The recovery plan agreed in April 2014 was meant to see the firm pay in £1.25m each year between 2015-16 and 2018-19.

The accounts also show that the firm's highest-earning member took home £944,000 in 2015-16, down 2% from £966,000 the previous year. Key management personnel earned a collective £8m, up from £7.6m.

Meanwhile, Nabarro's lawyer headcount rose from 362 to 393 fee earners, while total staff numbers increased from 312 to 320. Staff costs stood at £47m, up around 2%. Profit before tax fell to £47,964 from £51,804.

Nabarro's merger with CMS Cameron McKenna and Olswang was first reported in September. Based on figures for Legal Week's UK Top 50 2015-16, the combined firm will have revenue of around £978m and nearly 1,000 partners. CMS, Olswang and Nabarro posted profit per equity partner of £443,000, £490,000 and £586,000 respectively in 2015-16.

Nabarro senior partner Ciaran Carvalho (pictured) said: "Despite living in a post-Brexit world, we are optimistic about results for the first half of 2016/17 too. While there is much to be done and much uncertainty at large following recent political events, we are confident that the firm will be well positioned to enter our merger with CMS and Olswang on 1 May in a position of strength."