Cadwalader feels the pinch as '07 PEP dips 6%

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has become the first firm to take a hit on performance in 2007, with average partner profits at the New York firm falling by 6% to $2.72m (£1.38m).

Figures unveiled by Cadwalader today (5 February) show average profits per equity partner (PEP) at $2.72m 9£1.37m) for 2007 - a fall of 6% from the previous year's mark of $2.9m (£1.48m).

Overall revenue at the firm increased marginally, edging up by 5% to reach $587m (£299m) from $556m (£283m).

Net profits at Cadwalader stood at $207m (£105m) to be shared between the firm's 76 equity partners. In addition, the firm's 28 non-equity partners shared a further $18.5m (£9.4m).

The news comes with Cadwalader having made a series of cutbacks in recent weeks.

Last month the firm axed 35 structured finance lawyers in the US in a move it blamed on "unexpected and persistent volatility" in the financial markets that was disrupting the activities of many of its clients.

The firm also made a round of redundancies in London, removing a number of support staff in cuts thought to have affected its secretarial and administrative function. It is understood the office is strongly resisting any lawyer redundancies in the UK.

Meanwhile, fellow US law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has announced its own financial figures for 2007. Turnover increased by 5.2% to a new high of $944m (£480m), while PEP improved by almost 9% to reach $1.06m (£538,480).

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