More than 100 legacy Allen & Overy (A&O) and Shearman & Sterling partners have left or retired since the merger of the two firms was announced in May 2023, according to Legal Business research.
Departures tracked by Legal Business, including those contained in Companies House filings, show that at least 105 partners have left since the tie-up was announced, of which the overwhelming majority (84) are legacy A&O, with the remaining 21 legacy Shearman.
Of the total of 105, 63 have happened since the union went live in May 2024, including 11 from legacy Shearman. The additional 42 departures took place in the year after the merger plans were announced but before the deal completed. Of these, 32 are ex-A&O, while 10 are from Shearman.
The departures, which include retirements as well as those moving to other firms, include 84 partnership terminations detailed in UK Companies House filings, with legacy A&O inevitably accounting for the overwhelming majority of these.
Seventy-five of the LLP exits are from legacy A&O, 46 of which happened after the merger went live and 29 before. The remaining nine exits are legacy Shearman partners who joined the merged A&O Shearman LLP when the union went live.
Looking at total exits as a percentage of each firm’s partnership around the time the deal was announced, roughly 13.5% of legacy A&O’s partners are no longer with the firm, compared with nearly 11% at legacy Shearman. This is based on reported partnership count in the 2023 LB Global 100, when A&O had 622 partners and Shearman 191.
Companies House data shows the extent to which legacy A&O exits have outpaced magic circle peers since the deal was announced, with A&O’s 75 exits significantly ahead of 38 from Clifford Chance, 15 from Freshfields and 48 from Linklaters over the same near two-year period.
Of the 105 exits, London has seen the biggest share of departures across the merged firm, with a total of 35 City partners leaving, including 31 from legacy A&O and four from legacy Shearman.
Twenty-nine US partners have also moved on, including 10 in Washington DC and 16 in New York. The DC partners include three from legacy Shearman and seven from legacy A&O, while five of the New York departures came from legacy Shearman and 11 from legacy A&O.
The DC exits include several lawyers from legacy A&O’s US energy and infrastructure practice, including tax specialists Scott Cockerham and Michael Sykes, who left for Latham & Watkins and White & Case respectively, and George ‘Chip’ Cannon, who left for Hogan Lovells.
In New York, meanwhile, six partners moved to Linklaters – Shearman’s former global managing partner and Legal 500 Hall of Famer for $1bn+ M&A deals George Casey and his fellow partner Heiko Schiwek, as well as a four-partner team from legacy A&O comprising Daniel Guyder, John Hwang, Derek Poon, and David Lucking.
Lucking ran for the role of managing partner in legacy A&O’s final leadership elections last year, losing to Paris-based Hervé Ekué.
Linklaters’ six hires make the magic circle firm one of the three biggest beneficiaries of the fallout, behind Proskauer and South African firm Bowmans.
In October last year Bowmans took on A&O Shearman’s entire Johannesburg office, after A&O Shearman decided to shut in South Africa after 10 years. Banking and finance partner Deborah Carmichael was the sole partner who did not make the move, instead opting to return to ENS, where she spent nearly 13 years before joining legacy A&O in March 2023.
Proskauer, meanwhile, made three legacy A&O partner hires in London – the highest number of any firm in the City. Philip Bowden moved with Megan Lawrence last July, with the duo joined in November by John Goldfinch, who left A&O Shearman in September following a drink driving conviction.
Bowden co-headed the global banking practice at pre-merger A&O and ran for senior partner at the firm in 2024 and 2020, losing to Khalid Garousha and a re-elected Wim Dejonghe respectively.
The US firm’s hires are part of a finance buildout that has seen Proskauer bring in three other partners in the City – two of whom are also legacy A&O alumni who left before the merger was announced, including former partner Jake Keaveny.
In addition to its London hires, Proskauer also brought in a 19-lawyer legacy Shearman corporate team in Paris, including four partners led by former Shearman Paris head Xavier Norlain.
Twenty-eight of the exiting partners tracked by Legal Business have not moved to other firms or gone in-house, with many retiring from law.
Breaking down the departures by practice, banking has seen the most exits, with more than a dozen partners leaving across a range of banking and finance specialisms globally.
Corporate also saw more than a dozen exits around the world, with notable London departures including legacy A&O’s former global corporate practice co-head Richard Browne, who moved to White & Case in November.
Last September, A&O Shearman announced plans to cut 10% of its partnership by the end of the current financial year, while also confirming it would be closing in South Africa. It is unclear how many of the departures relate to this restructuring.
The merged firm has made 12 lateral hires and promoted 40 lawyers to the partnership since the combination went live. In the year before that, the two legacy firms made a combined 27 lateral hires and promoted 46 lawyers to the partnership. In total the combined firm has added 125 partners across promotions and lateral hiring since May 2023.
*All Companies House data accurate as of 15 January.
