The latest round of partner promotions among the top 20 UK firms has this week seen CMS Cameron McKenna announce the appointment of 30 associates to partner across Europe, including five in the UK, while Clyde & Co has promoted nine and, outside the top 20, Lawrence Graham has made up five new partners.
While CMS has roughly maintained its promotion levels of last year, when 31 associates were made up, the figure nonetheless constitutes a significant drop when compared with 2012, when that figure was 50.
The promotions were made across areas including banking and international finance; corporate; disputes; energy; employment; and real estate. The firm also awarded a promotion to new merger partner Dundas & Wilson, from which real estate consultant Margaret McLean has been made up.
She is one of five UK partners promoted, a dip compared to the nine UK associates made up last year.
UK senior partner Penelope Warne said: ‘We are delighted to welcome our new partners. Including our colleagues from Dundas & Wilson, we will have over 830 partners globally.’
Meanwhile, Clydes promotion of nine to partner is an increase on the 1,081-lawyer firm’s promotion last year of six. This is said by the firm to reflect its continuous growth and financial performance, which last year saw a healthy 17% revenue increase to £336.6m while profit per equity partner was up 4% to £580,000. The promotions are effective from 1 May 2014.
The promotions fall heavily in the firm’s insurance practice, as well as in its employment; real estate; disputes; employment; corporate; and finance practices. As of 1 May, the firm will have a 307-strong partnership.
Clydes senior partner James Burns said: ‘These promotions demonstrate our continuing growth across our global network and the benefits of our focus on our core sectors. The seven promotions within insurance show our strength across all classes from excess liability, through professional and financial lines to personal injury and clinical negligence. Our breadth of coverage of the trade and marine market is also reflected but so too is our continuing growth across dispute resolution, real estate, project finance and employment, already one of, if not the, largest in the City.’
Three of the promotions were in the EMEA region and Burns added: ‘We continue to grow our leading practice in the Middle East and our presence in Africa and are pleased to see the development within the Clyde’s model of partners who have joined us relatively recently through our mergers.’
Elsewhere, Lawrence Graham has promoted five senior associates to partner across its real estate; disputes; private capital; and corporate practice groups. The promotions are announced as the firm’s £171m merger with Midlands giant Wragge & Co is set to go live this Thursday (1 May).
Managing partner Hugh Maule, said: ‘All five lawyers have demonstrated excellent client development and management skills. They have each made a significant contribution to the success of their practice groups, all of which are highly regarded within their sector. I am very proud that they have all been successful in their respective fields and am confident that they will continue to inspire others as part of Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co from 1 May.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
The full list of partner promotions:
CMS:
Banking & international finance
Marc-Etienne Sébire (France)
Simona Marin (Romania)
Beltrán Gómez de Zayas (Spain)
Corporate
Arnaud Hugot (France)
Lars Eckhoff (Germany)
Dr. Eckart Gottschalk (Germany)
Dr. Martina Schmid (Germany)
Ellen Gielen (Netherlands)
Matteo Ciminelli (Italy)
Commercial, regulatory and disputes
Assen Georgiev (Bulgaria)
Martin Wodraschke (Hungary)
Clemens von Zedtwitz (Switzerland)
Energy, projects and construction
Lukas Janicek (Czech Republic)
Richard Sinclair (UK)
Phillip Ashley (UK)
Loredana Mihailescu (Romania)
Employment
Gaël Chuffart (Belgium)
Dr. Nina Hartmann (Germany)
Dr. Tobias Polloczek (Germany)
Valeriy Fedoreev (Russia)
Insolvency
Dr. Charlotte Louise Schildt (Germany)
Life sciences
Dr Monika Ploier (Austria)
Dr. Thomas Hirse (Germany)
Litigation
Bas Baks (Netherlands)
Pensions
Maria Rodia (UK)
Real estate
Przemyslaw Kucharski (Poland)
Jules Needleman (UK)
Margaret McLean (UK)
Tax
Romain Marsella (France)
Technology, media & telecoms
Florian Dietrich (Germany)
Dr. Ole Jani (Germany)
Clyde & Co:
Keith Conway – Disputes, London
Keith Hutchison – Disputes, Dubai
Keith Guerts – Disputes, Toronto
Simon Jackson – Insurance (energy, marine), London
Annabelle Redman – Real estate, London
Charles Urquhart – Employment, London
Prarthna Chaddha – Corporate, Dubai
Peter Kasanda – Finance, Dar es Salaam
Lawrence Graham:
Clive Chalkley, real estate, London
Alex Jay, disputes, London
Daniel Ugur, private capital, London and Singapore
Sam Gray, corporate, London
Kristian Rogers, corporate, London
