P.M. BRIEFING : Secret Profit Papers Published

The New York Times today published information from secret Ernst & Young documents detailing partner profits at the accounting giant, which won a court order preventing their publication in a newsletter last week.

The newspaper said the material showed partners at Ernst & Whinney will take home roughly 65% of all profits they earn jointly with Arthur Young for the next three years, while Arthur Young’s partners will share the rest.

The firms merged last year, creating one of the largest accounting agencies in the world. The merged company has sought to squelch the release of the secret information, contending that it was an invasion of privacy.

The news account said the confidential documents showed that Ernst & Whinney was by far the stronger of the two firms and its partners historically out-earned their peers at Arthur Young.

The newspaper didn’t explain how it got a copy of the documents, which were also leaked to three other publications.