Norton Rose has launched a partnership training programme for its most promising female associates as part of a bid to improve a falling ratio of women partners in its City base.

The City law firm's London partnership has just below 14% female partners and has rolled out a number of initiatives to increase this to around 20% over a three-year period.

Norton Rose has identified a group of 'high-potential' female senior associates who it will put through a new career strategies programme to help develop networking, negotiation, sales and communication skills to boost their partnership prospects.

The firm has also piloted an anti-bias awareness course, led by business psychologist Binna Kandola, to help partners prevent subconscious bias from affecting their promotion and recruitment decisions.

Following a successful flexible working programme during the recession in a bid to avoid redundancies, Norton Rose is also encouraging lawyers to work flexibly to improve work/life balance.

Global director of people and talent management Andrew McEachern said: "We have identified female promotion and retention as a priority. Improvement will not happen overnight but our initiatives have been very well received."

Last November Norton Rose increased the size of its diversity committee to 12 members, with the new-look group targeting London female partner numbers after the ratio slipped from 20% to just 13% in the five years up to 2009.