SJ Berwin is set to overhaul its governance structure to bring it in line with the firm's size and geographic spread.

Managing partner Rob Day (pictured) kicked off a consultation with partners last week – as the firm's protracted merger talks with US firm Proskauer Rose came to an end after months of unsettling discussions.

Day said the overhaul, which formed part of his election campaign for the managing partner post, was necessary because the management structure had not evolved in line with the growth of the firm. It comes after partners criticised communication between management and the partnership throughout the long-running merger talks with Proskauer and the previous year when the firm withheld a number of profit distributions from partners.

Options under consideration include the creation of an international partnership board with a separate management committee, or a single board that deals with both international and management issues.

At present, SJ Berwin has a strategy committee, an international strategy committee, a London management committee, a London department heads committee and an international department heads committee.

SJ Berwin and Proskauer confirmed the end of merger talks last week (11 November), around nine months after the two firms initially started discussions. The biggest issue was the time it would take to resolve difficulties such as aligning profitability – delays which made the continued discussions too unsettling for the two firms' partners.

However, Day confirmed SJ Berwin is still in the market for a US deal: "You will not see us going into a new set of merger discussions straight away. But taking the long-term view, I firmly believe the only way to break into the US market is through a combination with a US firm."