UK-based legal magazine The Lawyer reports that Herbert Smith is planning to cull some of its corporate partners after a poor performance by the practice group. 

But according to "insiders", reports gossip site Roll on Friday, the suggestion that up to 20 partners face the chop is wide of the mark. The figure is most likely to be closer to a 12. But partners in other groups are expected to be affected too, it reports. 

The market in the UK has been flat in recent months, and some speculate that partner chops are the next inevitable step. 

Some sources claim revenue at Herbert Smith is not growing fast enough to allow any significant increase in the overall size of the partnership. It has been argued, then, that the firm needs to make up its star associates. Those who are not pulling in enough new clients are apparently the next in line. 

A spokesman for Herbert Smith said that the firm wouldn't comment.