Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft grew its equity partner profits nearly 19% last year, in what the firm called a “validation” of its refocused strategy on a core client base of Wall Street banks, funds and corporations.

Profits per partner shot up by 18.6% to $2.51m in 2017 as the equity partnership contracted by five partners to 40 partners, according to preliminary ALM reporting. Meanwhile, the firm’s revenue dropped 9.7% to $408.1m, and overall lawyer head count dipped by about 15%, after the closure of three offices. Revenue per lawyer increased 6% to $1.09m.