Pinsent Masons is set to lay off as many as 13 fee earners in its UK employment practice, in the firm's third round of redundancies since its merger with McGrigors went live last year.

The layoffs, news of which was first reported by RollOnFriday, come after the firm cut 15 back office jobs last December and a further 47 support roles in August, across divisions including business development, IT, HR and facilities.

However, the firm stressed that the latest cuts were unrelated to the McGrigors merger, which went live last May.

In a statement, the firm said: "As a firm we continue to grow and have made a number of strategic investments over the past 12 months in those sectors and markets where we see most potential for growth.

"However, like any business we also need to monitor our resourcing levels and recognise and respond to market changes. This is particularly true in the field of employment law where market dynamics have shifted fundamentally. As a result we are taking steps to restructure our employment practice to create a group that is the right size and shape to respond to the changed nature of demand across the UK and internationally.

"This is obviously an unsettling time for all of those involved and we would like to thank the team for the patience and professionalism they have already shown during this process."

Pinsents joins a growing number of UK law firms to have made job cuts so far this year, including DLA Piper, Eversheds, Olswang, Clyde & Co, CMS Cameron McKenna and Farrers.

In contrast to the restructuring, the firm has recently invested in a partner hiring program that has seen the firm appoint 14 new partners since the start of the year. Recent additions include former Simmons & Simmons competition partner Jenny Block, a four-partner life sciences team from Fasken Martineau and Michael Isaacs (banking litigation) from Addleshaw Goddard.

In addition, the firm recently announced it had won a contract with infrastructure giant Balfour Beatty in which it will carry out all the company's day-to-day legal work whilst also being reappointed to Balfour's complex legal panel.

Last year's merger of Pinsents and McGrigors created a combined firm with turnover of £295m. In November the firm reported first-half revenues of £146m, which represented a 4% year-on-year increase.