The survey by accountancy and consultancy firm Crowe Horwarth and the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) benchmarked 30 law firms. It showed that seven out of ten New Zealand firms are preparing to hire lawyers in the next 12 months, with the legal sector anticipated to expand by between 3.3 and 5.3 per cent. The ten top performers had an average operating profit of $568,000 per law partner, with the average partner generating more than $705,000 per year, rising to more than $1m in the top ten firms. Non-partners earn an average salary of $195,000. Source: Business