The highest-paid partner at Scots commercial law firm Brodies took a £22,000 pay cut last year to £320,000 - in spite of a 33% surge in company operating profits.

The figures, obtained by The Herald from Companies House, summed up a year in which Bishops Solicitors joined the partnership, taking the number of partners to 54 and staff to 455, mak- ing Brodies the largest independent commercial firm practising only in Scotland.

Bill Drummond, the firm's managing partner, said: "This has been a remarkable year for Brodies."

In a telephone interview, Drummond declined to say whether he was the highest-paid director or, if not, who that other partner might be at the firm, which has two Edinbugh offices and one in Glasgow. "It can vary from year to year," he said. "Our obligation in the accounts is only to identify the level of the highest-paid director. Anything else is a matter for the members within the firm."

The latest accounts, which cover the 12 months to the end of April 2007, reveal that around 45 lawyers shared a total members' remuneration of £10.75m, up from £7.75m the year before.

There was also a further £966,000 identified in the accounts as "profit for the financial year available for discretionary division among member", which Drummond said had since been distributed to appropriate partners.

The company, which has a strong UK public and private sector client base, said that Brodies' average income per equity partner was £333,000.

Meanwhile, the accounts also revealed that turnover at the Scots law firm was up 42% to £30m in the year ending April 30.

Drummond yesterday also said that the prospects for the current financial year were good.