Law Firm Partner Moves in London - Issue 49

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

Numerically, the most significant hire was the announcement of a very eclectic five-partner team - comprising disputes, restructuring, infrastructure and debt finance - joining US firm Crowell & Moring from Squire Patton Boggs. The addition of this team is a follow-on from Crowell & Moring’s hire of Squire Patton Boggs’ former UK managing partner, Robert Weekes, announced in our last edition.

In all there was a total of 97 lateral partner moves announced in the first two months of 2019 - a 7% increase on the same period last year, but corresponding almost exactly to the statistical average for the same period over the past 5 years.  

Top partner recruiters in London January - February 2019

Also of note in this edition

• 5 firms hired partners from in-house roles;
• 19% of all laterals were non-partners moving into partnership;
• 24% of the total moves we recorded were female partners – lower than the 32% we saw in the same period last year.

So, an interesting, but not dramatic, start to the New Year. If law firms are feeling any uncertainty from the on-going Brexit negotiations, or the prospect of another snap general election arising from the inherent instability of the UK’s hung parliament, these figures do not appear to show it.

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