Linklaters, Bird & Bird and DLA Piper have all won spots on William Hill's expanded legal panel, Legal Week can reveal.

The trio join Ashurst, Pinsent Masons and Addleshaw Goddard, all of which have been re-appointed to the FTSE 100 company's roster of preferred legal counsel.

The review, which concluded in the last few weeks, was led by general counsel Thomas Murphy, and follows a period of rapid expansion and acquisition for the company's online division.

Partly as a result of those changes, the new structure operates a number of sub-panels, including corporate, finance and IT.

Addleshaws and Ashurst both won first-time appointments in 2008, joining long-time adviser Pinsents on a slimmed down network of advisers.

In recent years, major mandates have included the company's acquisition of Sportingbet's Australian and Spanish businesses for £460m in March 2013, a deal which saw Ashurst take the main advisory role for the bookmaker.

Although SportingBet was advised by Nabarro for that transaction, the company regularly instructed DLA prior to its buyout by William Hill and deal partner GVC Holdings.

In 2013, Ashurst also advised William Hill on a £375m rights issue to fund the acquisition of the outstanding 29% stake of its online joint venture, William Hill Online, previously held by Playtech.

In 2010, the bookmaker turned to Linklaters in its trademark dispute with online casino 32Red, and subsequent unsuccessful appeal in the High Court.

One firm that was unsuccessful in its pitch for a panel place said it still hoped to land some work for the bookmaker, which has gone off-panel for certain mandates in the past.

Murphy declined to comment.