Criminal and human rights firm Bindmans posted a 5 per cent rise in turnover for the 2010-11 financial year, helped in part by a slew of instructions in relation to the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

Turnover (£m): 7.6
RPL (£k): 87

While the firm’s official average profit per ­equity partner for the year stood at £271,000, in reality the figure was lower. This is because equity partners elected to give up a proportion of their distributions so that all staff could be awarded a bonus, allocated according to ­seniority.

Bindmans has three classes of partner - fixed-share, equity and senior - with only the latter two categories contributing capital to the firm. Where partners sit within those ­categories is decided by a three-person team led by non-lawyer CEO Andrew Thomson.

Thomson also sits alongside six partners on the firm’s executive board, which handles strategy.