King & Wood Mallesons will send partners from China and Europe on secondment to other jurisdictions this year as part of its integration programme in the wake of its merger with SJ Berwin.

For the first time, one partner from China will be sent to work in Europe and another to work in Australia, while a third partner from Europe will be transferred to the firm's Hong Kong office for a limited period.

Stuart Fuller (pictured), KWM's global managing partner, told Legal Week that the secondment scheme was "a significant part" of the integration programme for the legacy firms.

He added: "We're looking at that across all levels – partners, lawyers, front office and back office."

The firm is understood to have identified the partners involved in the initial secondments but declined to name them.

As well as increasing the number of placements, the firm is also looking to embed lawyers and staff in regional offices for longer periods.

So far several individuals and groups have been seconded between Australia and China for periods of between three and five months.

Among those involved in these secondments were Sydney-based partner and head of the firm's Australia competition law and regulatory group, Sharon Henrick, who recently returned from a five month stint in Beijing, and a team of IT staff who also did a five month on secondment in China to work on the Chinese partnership's IT system.

A group of Australian M&A lawyers have also paid a visit to the country, whilst some senior Chinese banking lawyers have previously spent time in Australia.

Last year, the firm appointed global practice co-ordinators to head up nine key practices, with the aim of boosting cross border cooperation in core business areas. These included three partners from each legacy firm.

A newly elected international management committee also includes equal representation from the UK, Chinese and Australian practices.

"[The] number one [lesson we learnt from the last merger] is getting people together quickly to create personal relationships," continued Fuller.

"The secondment programme is key to that but in September we also got our practice leaders together from across the firm to really work on what their business plans would be across their global practices and their global client plans.

"We have also sent more combined partner delegations on various trips in the last six months than in the preceding six months, to Europe, Asia and the US."

King & Wood Mallesons was formed by the 2012 merger between China's King & Wood and Australia's Mallesons Stephen Jacques. The combined firm formally tied up with the UK's SJ Berwin in November 2013, creating a $1bn (£657m) global outfit under a Swiss Verein structure, which includes four financially independent partnerships in the UK, China, Hong Kong and Australia.