London was home to eight of DLA Piper’s expanded partner promotions round, double the number made up last year as the Anglo-American law firm moves to expand in key legal hubs.
Some 29% of this year’s 48-strong promotion round at DLA were based in the UK – with 14 making partner at DLA this year, compared to nine in 2015. Eight of the promotions were in London.
Of the City promotions, the corporate, restructuring and litigation and regulatory teams each received two promotions. The London intellectual property and technology and finance and projects groups received one promotion apiece. The firm’s Leeds and Liverpool offices each received two promotions, with real estate duo Richard Thompson and Andrew Batterton made up as the UK’s booming property market feeds regional UK lawyers.
Reflecting a recent focus on key global hubs, New York also saw a significant slice of the promotions with five new partners at its Avenue of the Americas office, where DLA recently took on more space.
The 48-strong round is the largest since 2012, when DLA made up 58. Corporate saw the largest intake of new partners with 12 promotions, followed by litigation and regulatory with 10 and real estate with seven. The firm’s tax group saw the biggest increase, up from one promotion in 2015 to five this year, as European and US authorities ramp up their focus on tax avoidance and take a harder line on inversion deals that re-domicile corporates to cheaper tax jurisdictions.
With joint Europe and Middle East managing director Juan Picón replacing Nigel Knowles as senior partner on 1 May, the firm has named his replacement, with Milan-based real estate partner Olaf Schmidt elevated to the role.
Co-chief executive Simon Levine (pictured) said: ‘Developing the capability of our people and helping them to realise their potential is a key part of our global strategy and allows us to deliver the highest quality service to our clients.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
DLA Piper partner promotions:
UK
Ben Forgiel-Jenkins, London, corporate
Martin Penn, London, corporate
David Ampaw, London, restructuring
Chris Parker, London, restructuring
John Cloke, London, IPT
Maria Pereira, London, finance and projects
Paul Smith, London, litigation and regulatory
Sarah Smith, London, litigation and regulatory
John Gollaglee, Liverpool, litigation and regulatory
Richard Thompson, Liverpool, real estate
Andrew Batterton, Leeds, real estate
Jane Hannon, Leeds, employment
Thomas Kelsall, Manchester, real estate
Christopher Roberts, Manchester, restructuring
Continental Europe
Antonio Carino, Milan, litigation and regulatory
Paolo Foppiani, Milan, real estate
Tudor Nedelea, Bucharest, tax
Cornelius Frie, Cologne, corporate
Galyna Zagorodniuk, Kyiv, corporate
Teresa Zueco, Madrid, corporate
Martin Haller, Munich, real estate
Alberto Angeloni, Rome, litigation and regulatory
Elisabeth Stichmann, Vienna, corporate
US
Richard Rubano, New York, corporate
Colleen Carey, New York, litigation and regulatory
Lucas Przymusinski, New York, litigation and regulatory
Frank Mugabi, New York, tax
Drew Young, New York, tax
Richard Flaggert, Boston, IPT
Jarrod Matteson, Boston, real estate
Jamie Konn, Atlanta, employment
Todd Patterson, Austin, IPT
Thomas Pilkerton, Baltimore, corporate
Claire Hall, Los Angeles, finance and projects
John Huh, Philadelphia, litigation and regulatory
Melissa Bengtson, Phoenix, corporate
Laura Sirianni, Raleigh, finance and projects
Scott Cowan, Short Hills, corporate
Anil Kalia, Silicon Valley, tax
Angela Castro, Silicon Valley, real estate
Jennifer Kashatus, Washington DC, IPT
Asia Pacific
May Ng, Hong Kong, litigation and regulatory
Peng Tao, Hong Kong, tax
Sheng Wu, Hong Kong, corporate
Johnny Choi, Beijing, employment
Kate Papailiou, Brisbane, finance & projects
James Morse, Sydney, litigation and regulatory
Masa Ishida, Tokyo, corporate