Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) has rejigged its partnership structure, with the City firm taking capital contributions from some of its fixed-share equity partners in exchange for voting rights.

The overhaul, which took place earlier this year, effectively rids the firm of a three-tier partnership structure, which comprised a tier of full equity partners and two tiers of fixed-share partners, some who contributed capital and others who did not.

Under the new structure, virtually all of the firm's partners will now be either equity partners or fixed share partners making capital contributions and holding voting rights.

The firm announced in 2008 that it was phasing out salaried partners, with its 2009-10 limited liability partnership account filings showing that the process had been completed, with its fixed-share partnership rising from 57 to 72 at this time as a result.

However those salaried partners taking on fixed-share status were not given voting rights and did not put in a capital share.

A spokesperson for the firm said: "As part of the constitutional review, the decision was taken to further simplify the partnership structure in order to make the partnership more inclusive and ensure that every partner shares in the risks and rewards of partnership proportionally to their contribution to the firm's success. This meant moving to just two categories – full-equity and fixed-share equity."

The City firm's partnership voted in the changes in January, following a constitutional review that started last March. Details of the capital contributions have not been disclosed.

Legal Week reported in September that Field Fisher had entered into early-stage talks with Osborne Clarke about a potential combination that could create a merged firm with revenues of nearly £200m. News of the talks came after merger discussions with LG were called off in June.