The collegiality of the traditional legal partnership is under threat from law firms willing to wield chequebooks or throttle equity to sate the demands of high-performing partners, the Australian chief executive of international law firm Bird & Bird says.

Announcing two new partner hires from international firms to coincide with the firm’s 10th year in Australia, Shane Barber said retaining a “true sense” of partnership and co-ownership had become a distinguishing feature in a market inexorably heading away from traditional lockstep, full-equity partnership models.