NautaDutilh has brought in a new associate partner rank as the leading Dutch independent moves to phase out salaried partners.

The first appointments are set to be made over the next few months and, unlike salaried partners - who at Nauta receive a fixed share of the firm's profits - it will be a permanent position, with associate partners unlikely to be considered for full equity partnership.

The move comes as it emerges that the firm has already cut the number of salaried partners by more than half over the last three years - falling from 19 in 2005 to just nine in 2008. Its equity partnership has also reduced by more than 40% over the same period, falling from 92 to just 54.

Chairman Marc Blom (pictured) said: "The salaried partner mechanism did not work that well for us - you want a certain pyramid build-up. We have stopped appointing salaried partners and have only a few left. Instead we are to introduce a new role for very good people that do not want to be, or cannot become, partner."

Blom acknowledged the drop in partner numbers but attributed it to the firm changing its focus to the top end of the market - an overhaul which led to the spin-off of a five-lawyer family group in September 2005. Other partners left the firm when Nauta considered shutting its office in Rotterdam.

He added: "There was a serious discussion about whether we should close down Rotterdam but the office is fairly busy and we are happy with the strong team. There will be no further reduction now we have a good partner group. From here we will have a very careful but slow growth."

According to rivals, the refocusing has seen the firm regain its profile in the top Dutch deal market, notably taking a lead role for ABN Amro in last year's E71bn (£56bn) takeover of the Dutch bank by a consortium of institutions led by Royal Bank of Scotland.

In separate news, Nauta's Dutch rival De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, which closed its Rotterdam office in September last year, is set to close its base in The Hague this October, with all of the lawyers moving to Amsterdam.

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