January 2022: Edwards Gibson's November-December Partner Moves in Law.com’s Legal Week

In a further article based upon our November – December partner moves and end-of-year conclusions, Law.com’s Legal Week recalled the top hirers and losers of partners in 2021 in its article ‘Kirkland, White & Case Hired (and Lost) the Most London Partners In 2021, Report Shows’.

The article looks behind the figures, searching for potential explanations for Kirkland & Ellis topping both of our tables, for the highest number of hires and losses of partners with 15 hires and 11 losses.

‘Kirkland’s 15-hire tally was higher than at any other firm, the research showed. Scott Gibson, director at Edwards Gibson, explained that while some of the laterals would have gone into full equity, Kirkland’s salaried partner structure made it easier to hire and remove partners.

“Salaried partners are effectively employees rather than ‘partners’ in the way equity partners are. It is simply easier to hire (and remove) them; they have no entitlement to equity profits, are not required to pay in capital to the firm and they do not have voting rights,” he said.’

The article also delves into the associate pay wars, and the scepticism as to the sustainability of the pay wars, in the same vein as The Times article ‘Salary boom for young lawyers sets alarm bells ringing’.

The Partner Moves was also reported in the Law Gazette, Legal Futures, Evening Standard, City AM, The Horizon and The Lawyer Australasia.