Law Firm Partner Moves in London - Issue 39

Welcome to the latest round up of lateral partner moves in the London legal market from Edwards Gibson, where we look back at partner-level recruitment activity in London over the past two months and give you a ‘who’s moved where’ update.

The distorting impact of the collapse of the European verein of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) on the London lateral partner market, so prominent in our November- December 2016 and January- February 2017 editions, appears to have at last worked its way out with only one ex-KWM lawyer recorded as moving as a partner in this round-up.

In view of the absence of a collapsing law firm to buoy-up lateral partner statistics, it is perhaps a  little surprising that the overall number of announced lateral partner moves in London over the same March-April period as last year, is up 44% (92 moves against last year’s 64). 

The sharp hike in lateral partner hires over last year is difficult to explain particularly as there were only two team moves that featured more than two partners. 

Overall the sectors with the largest amount of lateral partner activity were finance (17 partners) followed by litigation (15 partners) and real estate (11 partners). 

It remains to be seen how the snap announcement in April of a UK general election in June 2017, together with the triggering of Article 50 - formally signalling the start of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union - will impact the economy, the legal market and ultimately the London lateral partner moves as the year progresses.

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Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss this article or any other aspect of the market in more depth.

Scott Gibson, Director   scott.gibson@edwardsgibson.com

Sloane Poulton, Director   sloane.poulton@edwardsgibson.com

Mark Coates, Senior Consultant   mark.coates@edwardsgibson.com

 

Please click here to understand our methodology for compiling Partner Moves