Which firms will benefit as years of upheaval keep the PE market churning?

Last month Clifford Chance (CC) private equity veteran James Baird retired from the firm after more than 25 years as a partner. Clearly the departure is unlikely to spell anything like disaster for a buyout practice as dominant as CC's, but it has certainly got the private equity sewing circle talking. And, no doubt, hoping for opportunities to tighten links with some of Baird's clients, such as CVC.

With CC's David Pearson now managing the CVC relationship, it remains to be seen how much scope there is for other firms to move in, although Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer certainly looks well-placed, given its already close ties with the institution and roles on recent deals such as last August's €1.2bn (£1bn) buyout of food and drink vending machine operator Autobar from Charterhouse.

Baird's retirement, though, like the move of his fellow former CC partner Adam Signy to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett or Dewey & LeBoeuf's hire last week of two Taylor Wessing private equity partners, is just the latest reminder that since the private equity bubble burst there has been an awful lot of movement both within buyout houses and law firms. So although private equity is still a business based around relationships and personalities, many of the personalities involved have changed – creating opportunities for ambitious law firms. This means that, while on one hand partners have been guarding their clients more tightly than ever, on the other, opportunities have opened up to start forging links that previously have looked closed.

Take Carlyle, for example. Previously largely a Latham & Watkins client, Linklaters secured its first UK corporate role for the buyout house earlier this year, when it advised on its £450m acquisition of Integrated Dental Holdings. Meanwhile, Weil Gotshal & Manges won TowerBrook Capital, which had previously instructed firms including Allen & Overy and Kirkland & Ellis, as a new UK client in February. CC, meanwhile, has been tightening its ties with houses including Montagu and Clayton Dubilier & Rice. And then there is the impact, yet to be properly felt, of moves such as Gavin Gordon and David Arnold from Ashurst to Kirkland, not to mention Signy's work with former CC client Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Combined with a growing trend for private equity houses to broaden their law firm ties beyond a primary adviser, it means that, as deal flow continues to pick up, it isn't as clear as it once may have been which firm is going to advise on a deal. Hence SJ Berwin took the lead for Lion Capital on both the AllSaints Spitalfields rescue and the Wagamama sale ahead of fellow Lion regular Weil Gotshal.

As one City buyout partner comments: "It's a combination of factors – there's more fluidity in the market both at private equity firms and law firms and the increasing panel culture at buyout houses means relationships are now almost always shared. All of this has created opportunities for new relationships."

Little wonder, then, that so many US law firms, like Dewey or Ropes & Gray, which already has close ties with houses in the US, are still joining the City market. One thing is clear, though – with the fallout of the financial crisis still rumbling on, it is going to be years before the true leaders of the reshaped private equity market emerge, both in terms of law firms and buyout houses. But the old hierarchies among legal advisers look suddenly less set in stone.