The highest take-home pay at Dechert’s London office rose by 16% last year to £2.69m, despite income at the City office sliding by 4%.
London income at Dechert dropped by 4% from £50.97m in 2013 to £48.98m for the year ended 31 December 2014, according to filings at Companies House.
Overall, the fees generated within Dechert’s UK LLP, which includes some income from overseas offices, dropped 1% to £66.96m. Profit, however, rose by £1.4m to £29.1m in 2014.
While partner numbers across the UK LLP stayed steady at 41, there was a fall in the number of lawyers working across the network. The number of associates and counsel dipped by 8%, from 83 lawyers in 2013 to 76 lawyers last year. Despite this, the amount of administration staff rose from 55 to 60 people.
The filing also detailed a new operating lease for its London office near Blackfriars, with the firm agreeing to pay its landlord at least £20.31m between now and 2023.
Dechert’s London office has seen a string of high profile exits during 2015, with litigation partner Jonathan Pickworth switching to White & Case and four litigation lawyers moving to Jenner & Block to launch the Chicago-based firm’s first overseas office in London.
In June partner Corrina Mitchell left and joined Pemberton Asset Management as general counsel, while in March Paris arbitration partner Pierre Mayer moved to set up his own boutique.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk