Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is set to cut a number of partners in its City real estate practice as a result of the continued difficulties in the property market.

The magic circle law firm is planning to ask around two partners to leave the firm over the coming months, in a move set to shrink the practice from its current size of nine partners.

No associate positions will be cut and partners in other practice areas will not be affected.

One Freshfields partner commented: "It has been a difficult market in real estate, so we are going to be reducing partner numbers in that area. This will include discussions looking at early retirement for some partners. It is a purely economic decision and not reflective of performance or the rest of the firm."

The news comes as it has emerged that Freshfields has also opted not to make any modifications to its lockstep after launching a review over the summer.

The firm was consulting on changes intended to correct the top-heavy balance of the 12-year lockstep, with proposed modifications including giving senior partners the opportunity to take a five or 10-point reduction in their share of the profits in exchange for a reduced working week.

Separately, it has emerged that Allen & Overy (A&O) has also asked a small number of equity partners to leave the partnership after restarting its annual lockstep management for the first time since a partner cull carried out in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The magic circle firm said that the move – expected to affect between 1% and 3% of equity partners – was not a restructuring and marked a return to "normal rates" of partnership management.

The number of partners asked to leave for performance management reasons slowed following A&O's decision to cull 9% of its partnership during the 2008-09 financial year as a result of the credit crunch and a slowdown in activity levels.

Freshfields declined to comment.