The Linklaters partnership will vote on plans to shrink the firm’s international board by four members tomorrow (25 November 2014) in an effort to cut down time spent on management.
The Magic Circle firm, which recently decided against combining its executive committee and international board as it bids to streamline its management structure, has proposed cutting its international board from 15 to 11 voting members.
The board, which is chaired by senior partner Robert Elliott, meets around eight times a year and has six London partners sitting, including banking partner Nick Syson, capital markets partner Paul Lewis, corporate partners William Buckley and Aedamar Comiskey, litigator Christa Band and IP specialist Ian Karet.
Just two partners on the international board come from outside Europe, Alberto Luzarraga holding the Americas spot and Teresa Ma the sole representative from Asia – their places are believed to be safe.
Proposals will now be tabled on how to reduce the size of the international board, which 14 of the members were elected to in a manner reflecting the firm’s geographic spread. The firm is looking to cut the amount of time spent managing, with five of the international board also on the firm’s Audit Committee that meets four times a year.
Herbert Smith Freehills and Clifford Chance have recently reduced the size of their boards with the same aim of getting senior partners more focused on fee earning.
It is understood that the firm is also voting on plans that would see managing partner Simon Davies continue to sit on the international board as a non-voting member, despite it being the body to which management is accountable.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk