EQUITY partners at Scottish law firms bring in lower fees than counterparts around the rest of the UK, according to research.

The median figure for Scottish based equity partners came in at £332,000 in the Royal Bank of Scotland Financial Benchmarking Report on law firms.

The south-west of England was next lowest at £355,000, with London highest at £731,000.

Equity partners would typically be higher fee earners and have a stake in the ownership of a firm. The average fees for equity partners in the upper quartile of Scottish firms was £512,000, against £231,000 for the lower quartile.

The data provided a brighter picture in terms of profit per equity partner with the Scottish median figure of £90,000 only beaten by north of England lawyers at £108,000 and those in London at £222,000.

At large Scottish firms – classified as those with fee income greater than £1.5 mil- lion – the median was £106,000 with the upper quartile bringing in £130,000 profit and the lower quartile at £83,000.

Smaller firms recorded a median profit per equity partner of £77,000 with the upper figure at £106,000 and the lower at £55,000. Median profit growth was just 1% in large firms against 19% in small ones.

The research, which covers firms not in the UK top 100, includes 55 firms in Scotland with 21 of those classified as large.

Steve Arundale, head of professionals at RBS, said: "This group [of firms] are clearly at the frontline in respect of operational challenges associated with legal sector reform and the consequences of an economic slowdown that has certainly outstayed its welcome.

"Efficiency has never been more important so we hope this report will help firms benchmark their performance and spot ways to maximise profits."

The median of chargeable hours across the year in Scotland was 1000 hours, which was in line with the UK average.

The recovered rate per hour – how much a firm actually takes in – came in at a median of £119, which was second lowest in the survey and only ahead of the south-west of England at £113.

The upper quartile of larger firms saw their hourly recovered rate at £172, a median of £121 and the lower quartile at £92.

In smaller practices the upper quartile figure was £158, the median £117 and lower £58.