DAC Beachcroft (DACB) has voted through changes that will make partner pay more flexible, as part of an overhaul of its members agreement.

The change, which is one of a number voted through by partners following a far-reaching governance review, will make it easier for DACB to better reward high-performing partners by removing a cap on how much of the firm's profits can go into its 'merit pool', paving the way for larger partner bonuses.

A new remuneration committee will oversee the pool of money, with the changes taking immediate effect.

The overhaul is one of a number of changes that will be ushered in following the review, which will introduce the first changes to DACB's members' agreement since legacy Beachcroft converted to a limited liability structure in 2006. Legal Week previously reported that DACB had brought in Addleshaw Goddard professional practices head William Wastie to advise on the review.

Senior partner Virginia Clegg (pictured) said: "We have introduced a more flexible remuneration approach that was long overdue. We have taken away the cap on the size of our merit pool to allow more to fall into the merit pool and increase the size of potential rewards for those members who have performed extraordinarily in a particular year."

The agreement also puts in place the potential for the firm to appoint a non-member CEO.

Commenting on the decision, Clegg said: "We recognised that we should have the mechanisms in place that mean we could consider a non-member CEO if we thought that was a good idea in the future. We have no intention of going out into the market to look now, but being mindful of the way in which the world is moving, we took a modernising view."

Other changes include greater clarity about roles, the division of responsibilities and operations between members, the LLP group board and the group executive.

Earlier this year, DACB entered a four-way insurance law alliance with US firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, German insurance leader Bach Langheid Dallmayr and Australian insurance specialist Wotton + Kearney.

The firm also instructed real estate agency Knight Frank to begin searching for new 70,000 sq ft London headquarters.

In 2016-17, profit per equity partner at the firm increased to a record high of £432,000, a 20% increase. Turnover also rose to £207m during the year – a 2.7% increase on the 2015-16 figure of £201.6m.