SJ Berwin has completed the next stage of its governance overhaul, finalising the line-up of its new management committee.

The committee, which will oversee day-to-day management issues at the firm, comprises managing partner Rob Day (pictured), corporate head Steven Davis, finance head Jeremy Cross, litigation head Craig Pollack and real estate co-head Simon Ricketts as well as intellectual property partner David Rose and corporate partner Simon Witney.

Five representatives from SJ Berwin's business services departments also sit on the committee including chief executive Keith Wood and finance director Mark Giles. The body was created after a governance review carried out by Day in November led the firm to scrap its strategy committee and instead install a partnership board, a management committee and an international executive.

One of the first tasks of the new management will be to implement an organised lateral hiring programme across the firm.

The programme will look at where the firm needs to fill gaps by geography and practice. It will involve the management committee interviewing previous lateral hires to try to identify best practice when it comes to matters such as the integration and retention of partners brought in from outside the firm.

One SJ Berwin partner said: "It will be good to have a more organised approach. We need to work harder on people settling into the firm. Some seem to do it really well and others never fit in. We need to make a conscious effort on integration."