King & Wood Mallesons' (KWM) new European and Middle East managing partner Tim Bednall is giving himself a year to improve the immediate fortunes of the legacy SJ Berwin business.

Speaking exclusively to Legal Week, he is quietly confident that he can turn the business around. But after a bruising 18 months for the firm, how does he intend to do it?

"I will be looking at addressing critical issues internally and externally over 12 months and, at the same time, developing the strategy for the firm's onward trajectory. There are a whole range of internal issues to settle because we haven't had a managing partner in place for the last nine months and some things have tended to drift," he says.

He is not exaggerating. The firm has been hit by a number of high profile departures (some voluntary, but many at the request of the firm) and repeated delays to its profit distribution payments. Meanwhile, Barclays has tightened its lending agreements over the firm.

To combat such challenges and improve the bottom line, Bednall's plan is to rebuild and strengthen the international funds, private equity, real estate, litigation and regulatory practices – areas long associated with the legacy SJ Berwin business. Bednall also believes fostering better relationships across the firm's European offices will dramatically improve its outlook.

"It's really about unlocking some of the untapped potential of that network, as well as encouraging partners in various departments to engage in a greater degree of teamwork and collaboration," he says.

"We've already seen an improvement in cross-selling and collaboration in London since we implemented the new structure in May, but I am confident we can build on that."

The firm's once legendary private equity practice has fared particularly badly during the past 18 months – coincidentally, roughly as long as Bednall, the former head of legacy Australian firm Mallesons, has been in London.

Several heavyweight partners have left the firm during that time, including former co-head of private equity Richard Lever and Simon Fulbrook, who joined Goodwin in April and July 2015 respectively. Steve Davis quit for Proskauer in late 2014.

The situation took a turn for the worse this summer when a well-regarded six-partner private equity team jumped to Goodwin to launch the US firm's Paris office. KWM is now suing both Goodwin and Lever over the moves.

Bednall says that as a result of that team loss and departures including German funds head Sonya Pauls' move to Clifford Chance, France and Germany are key offices for the firm to rebuild and grow.

In August, it took a first small step towards rebuilding in Paris with the hire of senior associate Guilain Hippolyte from White & Case. He joined KWM as a partner, and Bednall says the firm is continuing to look for further partners in corporate, private equity and finance.

He praises the divisional structure review, which saw the firm's 17 London practice areas cut to three earlier this year, and says the European office network is currently aligning into this structure. He also has a particular focus on encouraging referrals of inbound China work to European offices.

"We have had a significant increase in inbound China work into Europe, particularly over the last 12 months. That's the result of a number of things – partners in China and Europe have developed a longer-term relationship in getting to know each other and having confidence in one another, and they've developed a great deal book since the merger. Germany has received a larger amount of work out of China than London has, and the Paris office is currently running three transactions for Chinese clients."

He adds that teamwork and collaboration are being identified and rewarded "by various means inbuilt into our practice management and financial systems, including origination, referrals and contribution on other team files".

A range of priority client lists are now in place, including global priority clients, EUME key clients, divisional and department priorities and individual partner priority clients. Speaking to Legal Week earlier this year, global managing partner Stuart Fuller named established KWM clients HSBC, Beijing-based insurance provider China Life and financial services company Macquarie Group as part of the global priority client group.

Bednall has provided partners with revenue growth targets for the European business, but declines to specify what they are.

As Legal Week revealed last week, KWM now has in place a plan to move on from the delays to profit distributions that have blighted the firm during the past year. It aims to pay off the remaining balance due from the 2014-15 financial year by next May – a move that will go some way to improving goodwill with partners.

Bednall also plans to rebuild trust within the firm by increasing communication with staff, including one-on-one partner consultations and frequent visits to offices in Europe, which he will fit around his ongoing corporate M&A work.

He describes his management style as "consultative and inclusive" and says he intends to "bring people along to a common view on how we should move forward".

While he agrees that his main rival for the managing partner role, Gareth Amdor, shared similar objectives in terms of the immediate and long-term future of the firm, he argues there was "a choice in terms of experience and style".

Bednall was former chairman of legacy Australian firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques before being parachuted into London, but he is quick to dismiss any concerns about how long he has been in the UK.

"People should not worry," he says. "I wasn't parachuted in yesterday and I was encouraged by partners in European offices to run."

He adds: "Although both candidates were clearly supportive of the broader global network, those who voted for me were clearly voting in someone devoted to our global network and what we can achieve from participation within that."

Bednall has been on the ground in London during one of the most difficult periods that the European arm of KWM has faced. He is committed to the firm's future and insists he wants to rebuild the European practice to its former glory. Perhaps under his quietly determined leadership KWM can lay its difficulties to rest, but he certainly has much to contend with.