Law Firm Partner Moves in London - Issue 39
March - April 2017
Download the full Partner Moves Issue here >>
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.
If you would like to speak to anyone about our Updates, or about the services we can offer Clients and Candidates, please do get in touch via the details below.
Please feel free to share this update with colleagues and peers. If they wish to sign up to the Update, they can follow this link to do so.
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.
If you would like to speak to anyone about our Updates, or about the services we can offer Clients and Candidates, please do get in touch via the details below.
Please feel free to share this update with colleagues and peers. If they wish to sign up to the Update, they can follow this link to do so.
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
Download the full Partner Moves Issue here >>
If you would like to subscribe to our Partner Moves Newsletter, email us at support@edwardsgibson.com
Edwards Gibson Partner Round-Up - Our Methodology- Previous editions of Partner Moves in London
- Quantifying your following and writing an effective law firm business plan
- Specimen partner business plan template
- The Partnership Track and Moving for Immediate Partnership
- Legal directory rankings and their effect on lawyer recruitment
- Restrictive Covenants and Moving on as a Partner
- Paul Weiss - The invasive species that upset the London Big Law ecosystem
- Paul Weiss - Happy Birthday to BigLaw's Apex Predator
- Paul Weiss - Blackjack!
- Breaking The Circle - the real significance of Freshfields pay bonanza is far more profound than just another Big Law salary arms race.
- A lawyer's progress to partnership... and the closing window of opportunity
- Linklaters – Welcome to the “Hotel California” of Big Law; “You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave”
- The Pecking Order at MIPIM; believe it or not Real Estate Lawyers are not at the bottom!
- Parallels in Peril, two midsize law firms – Axiom Ince and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan – collapse in the same month
