BSkyB has overhauled its legal team in an effort to outline a clearer career path for its pool of in-house lawyers, Legal Week has learned.

Sky general counsel James Conyers oversaw the restructuring programme at the broadcasting giant, which first saw 11 departmental heads installed last year, with two additional tiers of principal legal adviser and senior legal adviser put in place in July.

All members of the team, which comprises more than 60 lawyers, were given new titles based on performance and management potential. Deciding factors included technical competence, judgement abilities and experience, as well as leadership qualities.

Conyers told Legal Week the innovative move was intended to foster a transparent hierarchy that will give Sky's in-house lawyers greater career prospects.

He said: "Previously, we worked on a flat structure in which no-one had titles and everyone was ostensibly on the same level. We now have much closer involvement between heads of department and their teams and there is more scope for individual lawyers to progress up the ranks."

The overhaul sees Sky become the latest in a string of major organisations to restructure its in-house function during 2007 following similar moves by the Office of Fair Trading, AOL and Schroders. However, Sky remains the only one of the group to cite career progression for its lawyers as the driving reason behind the shake-up.

Sky's existing relationships with its external counsel have not been affected by the move and its principal legal adviser remains Herbert Smith.

Last year Sky beat off stiff competition from Google and Virgin to land Legal Week's award for best in-house commercial team after winning four competitive bids in a high-stakes £1.7bn auction for the broadcasting rights to the FA Premier League's top club games.