Eversheds Sutherland has made plans to change the limited liability partnership (LLP) status of its German operations in case of a hard Brexit.

Following an internal review, the firm has decided to switch to a local LLP in the country should there be no trade deal between the U.K. and the European Union, according to a person at the firm.

Eversheds declined to comment on its reasons for the move. Others have made similar decisions in order to mitigate German legal privilege concerns post-Brexit.

In November last year, Simmons & Simmons created a separate LLP, with a partner stating the decision was driven by "nervousness" around Germany's limited view of documents that are covered by attorney-client privilege.

Legacy Eversheds entered Germany in 2015 after merging with Heisse Kursawe and further debuted in Dusseldorf following the acquisition of local firm Grooterhorst & Partners in 2017.

The firm now has offices in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Munich.

Firms have increasingly been rethinking their European strategy in light of Brexit, with Dentons most recently launching in Dublin and DLA Piper moving to a larger Dublin office and expanding its paralegal scheme.