Herbert Smith has forged a streamlined US referral network with leading Wall Street and regional firms as it moves to update the way its internal management and practice areas are structured.
International partner Richard Fleck has set up formal referral agreements with several high-profile firms including Wall Street's Cravath Swaine & Moore and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
The relationships have paid dividends with Cravaths putting in a good word to client Time Warner to ensure that it instructed Herberts in its £220bn acquisition of America Online (AOL) – the largest merger of all time.
In New York, Cravaths and Simpsons have been joined by Herbert Smith's long-standing ally Winthrop Stimoon Putnam & Roberts.
For the regional centres, Fleck has targeted one or two firms – Covington & Burling in Washington DC; Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley & Austin in Chicago and Fulbright & Jaworski in Texas.
On the West Coast, the relationships are less structured, with Los Angeles-based O'Melveny & Myers the only firm to join the formal network.
The relationships are not exclusive, but by identifying a limited number of firms, Herbert Smith can more effectively manage its US relationships.
Meanwhile, the firm has timed a review of the structure of the firm's management and practice areas to coincide with the start of senior partner Richard Bond's five-year tenure.
Partners suggest that the firm's company department should be split into divisions, reflecting the department's rapid growth in recent years.
The firm has only three departments: company, which brings in 53% of total fee income, litigation with 38%, and property, which generates 9%.
By creating a separate banking department, for instance, the firm could improve the standing of the practice its management structure and partnership council.
The firm also recognises that its enlarged international network should be represented on the council.