Finers Stephens Innocent has overhauled its management and partnership structure to boost its commercial practice.

A series of changes this year have led to a stripped down management group and the introduction of a pure merit-based partnership.

In January, the firm, whose average profits per equity partner were £165,000 this year, decided to change the lockstep structure to a merit system.

"We wanted to encourage the younger equity partners and show them that they could progress at a quicker pace in the partnership," said managing partner Anthony Barling.

The assessment of partners on the merit-based system will take place on a two-year basis.

The firm admitted three new partners to the equity in May, along with one new partner last month, taking the number of equity partners to 18.

In June the 38-partner firm also re-jigged its management structure to incorporate its main practice areas and create a system where each area is subdivided and managed by more than one partner.

The core management team comprises Barling, head of property David Battiscombe, construction head James Harvey, head of corporate Paul Millett, head of litigation Howard Zetter, litigation partner Daniel Marks and head of private client Michael Lewis.