The principal, and in some cases overwhelming, reason why firms might choose to become LLPs is protection from firm-busting ‘Armageddon’ legal claims. When a £600m writ arrives at their office as a result of an act by one of their colleagues, most partners will probably prefer to be in an LLP rather than an ordinary partnership. Faced with a straight choice of joining an LLP or a partnership of equal standing, prospective partners might now increasingly take the view that they are in a better position in the LLP in terms of liabilities that may be incurred by partners they barely know.

Richard Linsell, partnership law specialist at Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw: “I have had more enquiries about LLP conversion in the past week than in the past four months, including some from law firms.”