Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has reduced the number of shares available to its equity partners in a bid to raise each share’s value so they can be used as a recruitment tool.

The total number of shares available to equity partners has reduced by 17 per cent, from 401 to 332, with partners in the real estate finance and capital markets practices bearing the brunt of the reduction.

The firm believes the move will result in each share having a far greater value, which should make the firm a more attractive proposition in the recruitment market.

A Cadwalader spokesman said: “The management committee reduced the number of shares from 401 to 332 – or 17 per cent. However, the decrease in the number of shares, together with the cost reductions, will result in the value of each share increasing by significantly more than 17 per cent.”