Top-40 firm Field Fisher Waterhouse has confirmed that it has made 15 secretaries redundant. 

The cuts follow a review of secretarial services in its London office conducted over the past five months.

The firm, which posted turnover of £96.7m in 2012/13 – down from £99.1m the previous year – says the changes will ‘ensure we are resourced appropriately and remain competitive’.

In a statement, the firm said: ‘Like many other firms across the City, we have reviewed the changing nature of our administrative services against our evolving business needs going forward. We have developed a new structure for administrative support which offers greater flexibility and responsiveness for all our fee-earners.’

Last month, the firm announced it had appointed five new partners in London to take its overall number to 157.

It also merged with Manchester-based firm Heatons in February to expand its presence in the city.

FFW is not the first leading firm to reorganise its back-office staff to save money. Stephenson Harwood, Keoghs, DWF, Wragge & Co and Bevan Brittan have all restructured in recent months.

Last week an outsourced dictation company claimed that firms can save up to 60% if they farm out some secretarial functions, with the average salary for a legal secretary in London now reaching £45,000.