Herbert Smith is set to make up to 51 redundancies in London, with many of the job losses expected in the firm's City corporate practice.

The firm announced today (30 April) that it is embarking on a redundancy round aimed at reducing London staff headcount by 51 – equivalent to just over 3% of total City staff.

Lawyers in the firm's City corporate team look set to bear the brunt of the proposed cuts, with up to 23 fee-earners at risk of redundancy across the team's associate and of counsel ranks, as well as three professional support lawyers. The fee earner figure equates to around 9% of the London corporate team.

In addition, a further five fee-earner positions are at risk in the firm's real estate practice alongside one professional support lawyer. Up to 19 personal assistant roles are also at risk of redundancy. The firm said it hopes to achieve as many of these reductions through voluntary redundancies as possible.

Announcing the consultation, Herbert Smith managing partner David Willis said: "We need to ensure our London office resources are in step with current and anticipated work levels, and allow us to deliver a level of performance consistent with our strategic goals.

"It has been a difficult decision which we have taken reluctantly and after much deliberation. We have waited in the hope that conditions in transactional markets would improve – but against a backdrop of continuing uncertainties in these markets, we believe now is the right time to address the issue.

"This is about avoiding undue growth in our numbers. In the current economic climate, inevitably far fewer of our staff are choosing to move on. While we are proposing a reduction in current London fee-earner numbers for corporate and real estate, in real terms – taking account of trainees qualifying later this year- this will not result in a reduction in the overall number of associates in our London office in either of these practices over the next 12 months."

The news comes after Herbert Smith asked around 15 partners from its corporate and finance practices firmwide to leave at the close of last year.

The move also comes ahead of the much-anticipated tie-up with Australia's Freehills, that could see the two outfits merge in the coming months.

Herbert Smith carried out a redundancy consultation also largely affecting its corporate and real estate practices in 2009 which resulted in 84 staff leaving the firm in London.

The firm's corporate team saw 24 fee earners and professional support lawyers (PSLs), as well as nine paralegals, take redundancy while nine fee earners and PSLs were laid off in the firm's real estate practice. In addition, 42 secretarial and support staff left the firm.