Mayer Brown has promoted three lawyers to partner in London in a scaled back round that saw 27 partners minted globally.
The firm has been more conservative in its promotions across the board than last year, when it promoted four in London as part of a round that saw 34 made partner globally. As with last year’s round, Mayer Brown managed only one female partner promotion in the City.
Effective from 1 January 2020, the new London partners are Miriam Bruce (employment and benefits), Tim Shepherd (litigation and dispute resolution) and Charles Thain (banking and finance).
Mayer Brown London managing partner Sally Davies told Legal Business: ‘A lot of firms seem to be contracting in London but that is certainly not our intention. The difference between three and four partners in London was more of a timing thing. It was not as big a cohort as last year, however, three was the right number for us. We are still looking to expand our London office as part of the firm’s focus on London, New York and Hong Kong. We have hired several laterals and there are more in the pipeline.’
Davies is also hopeful of a higher percentage of women in next year’s promotions: ‘We expect to see more female partners next year. There is a great crop of female lawyers in the pipeline. Globally our percentages are healthy but we could still do better.’
The lion’s share of the promotions were in the US, with four new partners in Chicago, three in New York and three full-time partners in Washington DC, with a further DC partner splitting their time with Beijing.
Others were promoted in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, California, Charlotte and Los Angeles. In Europe, London again outstripped Paris, where only two lawyers were promoted to partner, matching last year’s investment.
Mayer Brown’s London partner promotions:
Miriam Bruce, employment and benefits
Tim Shepherd, litigation and dispute resolution
Charles Thain, banking and finance
