CMS Cameron McKenna is to become the latest major UK firm to convert to limited liability partnership (LLP) status, it has emerged.

The London-based firm is making the change from 1 May following a vote by the partnership earlier this month, joining UK rivals such as Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith and SJ Berwin that have already committed to an LLP conversion.

Camerons managing partner Dick Tyler said: "Most accountancy partnerships have made the change to LLPs and increasingly law firms are changing too. The result is that LLP is becoming the model for professional services partnerships."

The news comes as a swathe of UK firms are looking at making the move to LLP status, which limits partners' individual liability in the event of a firm-busting claim.

Clifford Chance, which is currently a US-registered LLP, is known to be interested in moving to the more robust UK model, while Lovells is due to vote in November on the issue. A number of major US firms have also converted in the past two years, including Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

However, the 136-partner Camerons is one of the few pure lockstep practices to make the move. Notably, London M&A leader Slaughter and May last year rejected the move, citing concerns that the firm could lose its partnership culture.

London giant Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which had been scheduled to convert to LLP status by the beginning of May, has had to delay its conversion. The firm is understood to have struggled to overcome regulatory issues, especially in Europe where LLPs are subject to different tax laws to the UK.