As it stands, just over a year down the line and the first stage of change under the Legal Services Act (LSA) 2007 has resulted in a somewhat disappointing but predictable slow drip of
largely regional law firms including Mills & Reeve, Irwin Mitchell and Halliwells making the move.
One structure
largely unique to large multinational
law firms is the Swiss Verein, pioneered by Baker & McKenzie in 2004, in which multiple national or
regional partnerships form an association in which they share branding, administrative functions and various operating costs, but maintain separate revenue pools and often separate partner compensation structures.