Beleaguered UK defence giant BAE Systems is set to ramp up its legal know-how system in the wake of a major restructuring that has led to the creation of more than 15 new senior legal roles at the company.

The know-how system, dubbed LVIS, is currently being trialled and is set to be fully rolled out in the next month, with BAE general counsel Philip Bramwell looking to involve the company's adviser firms in the new year.

Commenting on the move, Bramwell said: "Our legal know-how system has to be accessible to all our lawyers worldwide. We want to make all this information accessible to all our lawyers in real-time, as well as get access to the know-how systems of our external partner law firms."

In a related move, Bramwell – who joined the company in January from telecoms giant O2 – has created a raft of new legal roles, introducing global heads of M&A, capital markets, employment, property and litigation, as well as chief counsels in each of BAE's major markets.

Andrew Guest has been appointed as chief counsel for the key BAE market of Saudi Arabia – the focus of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into the group's business dealings that was dropped on Government orders earlier this year. Bramwell said he expects to recruit for similar roles in South Africa and India.

Bramwell has also introduced what BAE called a 'cab rank' system comprising three floating senior counsel whom BAE's in-house team can turn to instead of instructing an external firm.

Bramwell added: "We have about 105 lawyers in the team now and I expect it to grow by another 20% or so. The vast majority have been internal appointments so far but I expect we will make a few external appointments in the coming months, from both private practice and in-house."