Stephenson Harwood's average profit per equity partner (PEP) fell 8.5% to £708,000 in 2016-17, with the dip coming against an 11% rise in revenue to £176m.

The fall in PEP from £774,000 comes after three years of growth at the firm, which saw PEP edge up 1.4% last year, having soared by 42% in 2014-15 (in part due to an uplift from disputes cases where some of the work was carried out in previous years) and jump by 19% in 2013-14. The last time PEP fell at Stephenson Harwood was in 2012-13, when an 11% drop took the figure at that point to £450,000.