Fieldfisher has decided against pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) in the immediate future. Its listing would have been the most significant IPO of a law firm so far.

Fieldfisher said last year that it was considering a listing but following an internal review it has now shelved the project, because of the complexities of the process and the lack of certainty over how the market would view stocks of legal firms.

Managing partner Michael Chissick said via email: "There are serious complexities involved in an international firm floating: the impact of local non-UK bar rules and whether or not the market is really ready for such a large flotation and is able to value complex organisations transitioning from an LLP structure into a more corporate one.

"As most managing partners in the sector are likely to have done, we reviewed and considered an IPO in the past but decided it was not right for us at the time. For now, it is very much on the back-burner," he said.

Fieldfisher has 1,450 people working across 24 offices with a turnover in excess of £207m.

The Fieldfisher decision is likely to place even more importance on the flotation of mid-tier DWF next month. Many believe it will act as a bellwether for investor interest in buying into large commercial law firms.

Last week, it published more details of its intention to float and expects to be valued at between £400m and £600m.

DWF has similar revenues but significantly lower partner profits compared with Fieldfisher.

Chissick said It will be interesting to see what happens with DWF and how it deals with the issues of non-UK bar rules and transitioning from an LLP to a corporate entity.

DWF declined to comment.