Legal Business

Partner promotions: Ashurst 20-strong round includes 45% females while Macfarlanes reduces round to five

Ashurst has this morning (8 April) announced its 20-strong partner promotion round, which will take effect from 1 May 2015, with 45% of the new partners female while Macfarlanes reduced round of five comprises 40% women.

Ashurst made four appointments in corporate and disputes, two in each of banking, real estate, regulatory, and securities and derivatives and one in each of competition, employment, infrastructure, and restructuring and special situations.

Geographically the round saw the UK recieve the most new partners with 12 made up, Australia followed with six and there was one each in France and Singapore.

Last year, the firm announced its first partner promotions since its 2013 merger with Blake Dawson, with 15 lawyers joining the partnership ranks. Today’s announcement marks another year of the rising number of those promoted in the firm’s annual round, with 2014’s 15-strong round up from a pre-merger figure of 12.

Macfarlanes, meanwhile, reduced its round from the nine lawyers made up in 2014 to five new partners this year – though the 2014 figure had been its highest round since 2005. This year’s new partners are spread across four practice areas including litigation, banking and finance, investment management and commercial real estate.

The firm further confirmed the appointment of investment management senior counsel Alisa Chhoa as head of the firm’s China practice with effect from 1 May. Macfarlanes’ senior partner Charles Martin said: ‘It is an easy decision for a firm to make new partners when conspicuous talent meets a strong business and strategic case as we have here. Our commitment to giving very able lawyers opportunities and to giving our clients the very best is evident in this strong generation of partners.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Ashurst’s new partners in full:

Meredith Bennett – Disputes, Brisbane

Michaël Cousin – Competition, Paris

Tom Cummins – Disputes, London

Olga Galazoula – Restructuring and Special Situations, London

Jon Gale – Disputes, London

Jake Green – Regulatory, London

Anton Harris – Corporate, Sydney

Jane Harvey – Employment, Melbourne

Nicola Higgs – Regulatory, London

Hiroyuki Iwamura – Corporate, London

Jessica Jenner – Banking, London

Olivia Lau – Infrastructure, Sydney

Dyfan Owen – Disputes, London

Dominic Ross – Corporate, London

Pauline Tan – Real Estate, Sydney

Lucy Thomas – Real Estate, London

Jasmine Tiw – Securities and Derivatives, London

Ben Warne – Corporate, Brisbane

Nicholas Wong – Banking, London

Edwin Yow – Securities and Derivatives, Singapore

Macfarlanes’ new partners in full:

Jonathan Arr, litigation

Richard Fletcher, finance

Lora Froud, funds

Kirstie Hutchinson, finance

Dan Marriott, real estate