After a 13-strong partner promotions round last year, Simmons & Simmons has made up just seven lawyers in its latest promotions round.
The firm, which is experiencing slower financial growth after a record-breaking 2014/15, has made up just three lawyers in the City this year. This is just a third of the number made up 12 months ago, when nine lawyers across seven practices got the nod in the City. Elsewhere Paris, Düsseldorf, Hong Kong and Milan received one promotion apiece.
The City promotions include structured capital markets specialist David Toole, a 2013 hire from Linklaters. Corporate tax lawyer Hatice Ismail and Alexander Thavenot also made the grade in London, being made partners in Simmons’ financial markets and dispute resolution practices respectively.
While it is a small round, three of seven of the promotions are women, representing 43% of the round. This is higher than the 30% target that most City firms have set themselves.
Simmons’ senior partner, Colin Passmore, said: ‘These individuals all exemplify our high performance culture and values through their ambition, expertise, commitment and collegiality. Again this year, they recognise the range of talent that exists across our practice areas and our offices that has been key to our development over the past few years.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
Simmons’ promotions in full:
Hatice Ismail, London, financial markets
Alexander Thavenot, London, dispute resolution
David Toole, London, financial markets
Sarah Bailey, Paris, dispute resolution
Christian Bornhorst, Dusseldorf, corporate and commercial
Eva Chan, Hong Kong, financial markets
Augusto Santoro, Milan, corporate and commercial