Corporate firm Macfarlanes has cemented its reputation as one of the City’s most profitable law firms, confirming a remuneration of £3.8m for its highest earning partner in the last financial year. 

In documents posted on Companies House today, and confirming initial figures published earlier this year, the firm said operating profit for the year ending 30 April 2018 was £107m, up 24% from £85m in 2016/17. Turnover rose 20% to £201m.

Macfarlanes’ unnamed highest paid partner drew £3.8m, up from £2.09m last year. The document specifies that this figure includes a ‘payment on retirement’ – though it does not say how much this was.

The total profit divisible among the firm’s 86 members was £61m.

Macfarlanes’s figures appear to buck the current City trend. According to PwC’s Law Firms’ Survey, published in October, income has grown yet profit margins for 32% of the top 100 firms fell. PwC said the top 10 firms all suffered a fall in profit margins for the fourth consecutive year.