Stewarts has recorded an 86% leap in average profit per equity partner (PEP) fuelled by a 43% jump in revenue last year, prompting the litigation firm to pay ‘a special bonus’ to every member of staff.

Revenue climbed to a record £114m in the year ending 30 April, pushing net profit to £58m – a 93% increase on the previous 12 months – while PEP reached £2.74m.

The bumper partner profits are considerably higher than magic circle firms Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which both posted average PEP of just over £2m, and even City firm Macfarlanes which previously led the way with £2.48m.

Stewarts’ total remuneration to all classes of partner, including full equity, junior equity and fixed share partners, was £73.2m with an equity spread of between £1.2m and £3.4m.

Managing partner Stuart Dench, who replaced the veteran John Cahill this month, said: ‘We are pleased to announce a strong set of financial results. During the year, we litigated ground-breaking cases, resolved disputes and achieved excellent outcomes for our clients.’

Stewarts acted for investors in film distribution partnerships in a landmark professional negligence case against a leading tax silk, which was dismissed by the High Court in March – but the claimants have since been granted permission to appeal by the Court of Appeal, which is due to hear the case in March.

Dench added: ‘We have invested in strengthening existing practice areas and developing new areas of work. We will launch a policyholder disputes practice in September. In previous years, we have indicated that our revenue and profit patterns will be “non-linear”. That remains the case, as these results demonstrate.'

Stewarts said that its breakdown of revenue is ‘drawn purely from litigation and includes an upward adjustment of £5,665,000 in respect of value recognised on certain contingent work where the income policy applied in our management accounts differs to the statutory financial statements’.

 

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