Addleshaw Goddard is pushing to improve its international links by tightening up its relationships with referral firms worldwide and boosting its overseas secondment programme.

The top 20 UK firm is in talks with the firms it works with overseas about how to improve services, with chief operating officer and management committee member Peter Smith and disputes lawyer John Gatenby leading discussions.

The firm is in the process of drafting common terms of engagement with its referral firms in practice areas such as banking. The new terms are expected to be in place by the end of the year. The firm is also looking at common standards for service levels to clients and joint training initiatives.

Significantly, it is also planning to increase the number of lawyers participating in secondments both into and out of Addleshaws, as well as expanding the number of jurisdictions in which the secondment programme operates. Australia and Korea are both thought to be key priorities for expanding the programme.

Smith said: "There is a combination of drivers playing out here, but the biggest driver is the client. When working on multi-jurisdictional transactions, most clients do not want to be negotiating on issues such as terms of engagement."

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