Profits cheer, but it's revenue pain for the leading law firms

The Legal Business 100 said cutting headcount and discretionary spend to help achieve marginal increases in profitability are "the accounting equivalent of spoon bending".

"It doesn't reflect the underlying health of a business," said Mark McAteer of Legal Business.

Jeremy Black, a partner at Deloitte, added: "While profit is ultimately important, revenue does give you a feel for how well firms are doing with their clients out in the marketplace."

Analysis of the LB100 reveals that just 27 firms managed both revenue and PEP growth this year, while the total number of lawyers fell by three per cent.

Of the national firms with a significant presence in Yorkshire, DLA Piper saw turnover fall 1 per cent to 581m, excluding its American operations, while PEP fell 25 per cent to 485,000 – the biggest fall in the LB100.

Eversheds, meanwhile, saw turnover slip by 8 per cent to 335m, but boosted PEP by 28 per cent to 515,000.

At Pinsent Masons, turnover was down 4 per cent to 206m while PEP rose by 30 per cent to 404,000.

Turnover at Addleshaw Goddard fell 3 per cent to 167.5m, although PEP was up 6 per cent to 425,000.

Irwin Mitchell saw turnover edge down 1 per cent to 157m, with PEP down 12 per cent to 540,000. At Hammonds, turnover was down 6 per cent 118m, while PEP was up 36 per cent to 359,000.

The biggest financial rewards for legal partners in Yorkshire can be found at Gordons, the Leeds-based firm, which had PEP of 700,000, up 51 per cent, on turnover of 22m, placing it in joint fourth place in the LB100 for partner earnings.

In the North, the average revenue is 43m, which puts it ahead of other regions. The biggest turnover – 87m – is at Liverpool firm Hill Dickinson.

In 2010 the combined revenues of the UK's 100 largest law firms was 14.18bn, a drop of four per cent on the previous year.

The top 100 law firms posted combined profits of 4.03bn, an increase of one per cent on 2009.