Partners in small law UK firms are earning less than salaried partners and fee-earners, new research has revealed. Some partners are also charging as little as £50 per hour, the research by Cheshire-based accountants Booth Ainsworth found. However, there was an improvement in financial performance this year, with more than half reporting growth of around 10 per cent. The Legal Financial Benchmarking Survey 2015 questioned 127 SME law firms in England and Scotland. These were divided into three groups – annual fee income of less than £500,000, up to £1.5m and over £1.5m. The highest charge-out rate for partners was £340 per hour, and £295 for fee-earners. Non-partners are the smallest firms by fee income were paid the highest salary, averaging £100,000.
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