Here's a challenge. Name three partners in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's City real estate practice. If you find it difficult, so do many property partners around the City. The department, whatever its assets, is not over-blessed with profile.

One name that recently hit the headlines is Graham Prentice, who is leaving along with three others to join LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae. After 20 years as a partner at the magic circle firm, Prentice became one of the first to 'retire', locking in more generous benefits under the firm's pensions shake-up.

The departure leaves Freshfields with just eight property partners in London. And while direct practice comparisons are notoriously difficult, comparable firms like Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) have roughly twice the City partner count in property. The real estate profile of Linklaters and CC is also boosted by assured property heads Patrick Plant and Cliff McAuley respectively, who give their departments a voice internally.

Perhaps more worrying is rivals' claim that Freshfields' grip on its major clients has loosened in recent years, with Scottish Widows in particular recently seen to be widening its pool of property advisers to include firms like SJ Berwin. Freshfields does not seem too concerned, pointing to its eye-catching instruction for the client on the recent £420m sale of Covent Garden. Partners also cite links with clients such as Kingfisher and the real estate arms of Goldman Sachs and the much-touted Morgan Stanley.

Still, the wider issue for Freshfields will be the morale among other 'support' practices at a time when the firm is restructuring the partnership. As it is, ex-Freshfields hands tell jokes about the BlackBerry deficit outside of corporate, referring to the struggle of smaller teams to get marketing support and office perks.

This sentiment was underlined by the departure alongside Prentice of environmental partners John Bowman and Paul Watchman and Paris arbitration partner Eric Schwartz. This week, litigation veteran Jo Rickard announced a move to Shearman & Sterling. True, the younger Bowman was not one of the 30-odd early retirees and arbitration (not to mention the wider litigation team) is one non-transactional area in which Freshfields has consistently punched its weight. But the latest departures raise fresh questions over the firm's commitment to non-corporate practice areas.

Freshfields is adamant that its partnership restructuring will not disproportionately affect support areas. But without a partner promotion in the London property team since 2003, a cynic could respond that is because there are not that many left to demote.

Victory for SJs in auction win

For SJ Berwin, advising on a £1bn-plus deal is probably enough, but to do so opposite Slaughter and May on a hotly-contested auction, will have put partners on cloud nine.

Critics will argue the firm was simply one of about 30 interested parties and happened to have become involved with the winning bidder. But at the very least, that the firm lined up alone opposite the likes of Slaughters friends Hengeler Mueller, Bredin Prat, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo and Uria Menendez, suggests substantial clients are starting to take its European network seriously. Rivals are also starting to take notice, with one Slaughters man describing SJ Berwin's performance on the bid as "magic circle-esque". Listen out for the champagne corks at Queen Street Place.