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Sidley London hiring spree continues with Weil funds trio as Paul Weiss takes two more A&O partners

Sidley Austin has continued its recent London recruitment spree with the hire of a trio of funds partners from Weil, including private funds head Ed Gander (pictured).

Gander, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for private funds who also co-headed the global group, will now head up the private funds practice at Sidley, working alongside fellow partners Peter Boulle and Steven Fox, who are joining him in the move from Weil.

The trio will become part of a six-partner cross-practice London-based
funds team, which includes EU/UK financial services and regulatory funds
head Leonard Ng, Oren Gertner and Blake Fillion.

The moves are the latest in a stream of lateral hires for Sidley in London, including last month’s recruitment of Latham corporate co-chair David Stewart and capital markets partner Vladimir Mikhailovsky, as well as eight leveraged finance partners led by Jay Sadanandan and Sam Hamilton.

In a statement, Sidley London managing partner Tom Thesing said he was excited to welcome ‘market-leader’ Gander to the firm.

‘The experience and deep sector knowledge of the team are highly synergetic with our recent arrivals as we look to unlock new opportunities for our clients,’ Thesing added. ‘Our firm works with more than 200 of the leading global sponsors and by adding Ed, Steve, and Peter, we are continuing our transformational growth in London to service our clients legal needs.’

Elsewhere, Linklaters has also made a clutch of hires, bringing over Matthew Hodgson from A&O Shearman as head of public international law, as well as leveraged finance duo Angel Quek from Latham and Peter Hayes from Paul Hastings, the latter a Legal 500 leading partner in investment-grade debt and syndicated loans.

Paul Weiss has continued its London build-out with a duo of A&O Shearman hires including digital infrastructure partner and Legal 500 IT and telecoms leading partner Tom Levine, as well as restructuring partner Nick Charlwood, expanding the City practice it launched last July with its hire of Akin’s Liz Osborne, who joined as head of European restructuring.

Also hiring from A&O Shearman was McDermott, newly set to merge with US firm Schulte Roth, which hired financing and restructuring transactions specialist Kathleen Wong into its transactions practice group in London.

Meanwhile in London, Freshfields brought energy and infrastructure partner Alistair McKechnie over from Paul Hastings. McKechnie’s move reunites him with his Paul Hastings colleagues Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson, who moved to Freshfields in February after just two years at Paul Hastings.

Private equity partners David D’Souza and Ambarish Dash left Herbert Smith Freehils for Morrison Foerster. The moves mark the third and fourth London departures from HSF since the firm voted through its transatlantic merger with Kramer Levin at the start of April, with fellow PE partner Joseph Dennis set to join Dechert and product liability partner Philip Pfeffer moving to Jones Day in New York.

White & Case hired antitrust partner and Legal 500 EU and competition Hall of Famer Euan Barrows from Ashurst, where he was global head of the antitrust, regulation, and trade team.

At the same time, White & Case also saw two departures in London, with corporate trustee partner Kevin Ng heading to Mayer Brown, and energy-focused international arbitration partner Jonathan Brierley jumping to Akin, where he reunites with international arbitration head Mark Clarke, who left White & Case as London commercial disputes head in February 2023 and joined Akin in January after a stint in-house at Proman. Akin also hired Orrick tech and IP partner Natasha Ahmed.

Browne Jacobson was also active in the international arbitration space, bringing over Bernhard Maier from Signature Litigation as arbitration practice head. The firm also hired a new commercial dispute resolution head, welcoming Danielle Carr from Rosenblatt, which relaunched as an independent firm in January amid the collapse of RBG Holdings, former parent company of both Rosenblatt and Memery Crystal.

Jones Day made three hires in London, bringing over DLA Piper corporate partner Piero Carbone and Kennedys product liability litigators Samantha Silver and Nathalie Smyth. Carbone is a Legal 500 leading partner for midmarket PE deals, while Silver headed the products law and life sciences team at Kennedys.

Real estate was a focus for Bird & Bird and Travers Smith, with Bird & Bird hiring commercial real estate partner Simon Price from Mayer Brown, and Travers hiring CMS senior associate Robert Payne as a senior counsel to head its property litigation team.

Meanwhile, Temple Bright and Pinsent Masons each made hires in pensions, bringing over Clifford Chance London pensions head and Legal 500 noncontentious pensions leading partner Hywel Robinson, and Linklaters special counsel Anna Taylor respectively.

Taylor Wessing hired financial services regulatory partner William Garner from Charles Russell Speechlys, while Jenner & Block hired Hill Dickinson partner Will Jones into its London public law and crisis management practice as a special counsel.

Finally in London, Morgan Lewis and Fladgate each made tax hires, bringing over Milbank special counsel Andrew Callaghan, who joins Milbank as a partner, and Stephenson Harwood private client tax partner Emily Osborne respectively.

Across the Atlantic, Cahill hired a three-partner IP team from King & Spalding, bringing over Britton Davis, Alfonso Garcia Chan, and K&S innovation protection group leader Chris Campbell, who joins Cahill as tech IP litigation chair.

Meanwhile in New York, Simpson Thacher hired Laura Brett as head of its advertising advisory and litigation practice. Brett joins from industry self-regulation nonprofit BBB National Programs, where she was vice president of the national advertising division from 2019 to February this year.

Finally in the United States, Ashurst expanded its projects practice with the hire of Norton Rose Fulbright senior counsel Rhodri Evans. Evans becomes the fourth partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office, according to the firm’s website.

Elsewhere, HFW hired energy disputes partner Shaun Leong from Withers in Singapore, while Bird & Bird hired corporate partners Sebastian Weller from ADVANT Beiten in Düsseldorf, Shahin Foroughian in Singapore, and Matthijs van Leeuwen from in Amsterdam. Foroughian and van Leeuwen both join from NRF, where they were a counsel and a legal consultant respectively.

Eversheds Sutherland was also active in Amsterdam, hiring DLA Piper M&A partner and Netherlands energy and natural resources practice cohead Pieter Paul Terpstra. DLA also saw Spain real estate head Orson Alcocer depart for Hogan Lovells in Madrid, where he will lead the firm’s real estate practice.

Finally, Paul Hastings picked up its fourth infrastructure partner from White & Case, bringing over Ibaad Hakim, following its March hires of George Kazakov and Din Eshanov and its April hire of Zavier Pettet in Paris. Hakim is a Legal 500 next-generation partner for construction in the UAE, and joins the firm’s new Abu Dhabi office, established and co-led by Kazakov and Eshanov.

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HSF reappoints senior partner as firm gears up for US merger

Herbert Smith Freehills has reappointed Rebecca Maslen-Stannage as chair and senior partner as the firm prepares for its transatlantic merger with Kramer Levin this June.

Sydney corporate lawyer Maslen-Stannage’s new four-year term means that she will play a key role in integrating the two firms in their transatlantic and transpacific union, which was given the green light by partners last month.

Her success, in the face of competition from London partners Gavin Davies and Malcolm Lombers, means she will continue to lead alongside HSF’s global CEO Justin D’Agostino when the two firms come together as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in a financially integrated merger set to go live on 1 June.

While HSF brings the larger global footprint and revenue, with 2024 fee income standing at £1.3bn, Kramer Levin’s significant US presence will see it represented on the combined firm’s global executive and partnership council. The merged firm is set to house around 2,700 lawyers, with more than $2bn in revenue, based on last year’s financial results.

Partners at both firms voted overwhelmingly in favour of the tie-up, with management now in the process of finalising internal alignment ahead union.

The deal cements a long-term strategy for HSF, which has openly set its sights on the US market as a pillar of its global growth ambitions.

At the time the deal was announced, D’Agostino hailed the proposed merger as a ‘winning trifecta,’ highlighting ‘global disputes and global transactions on day one…. a high-quality US law firm, and alignment over ambitions for growth.’

Leaders confirmed plans to ramp up lateral recruitment across the US over the next two years, with a particular focus on practices including energy.

‘This is not just a vague aspiration,’ D’Agostino told Legal Business in the wake of the merger vote.  ‘We have a solid commitment to each other, focused on expanding in specific areas and adding high-quality resources to the existing HSF Kramer team.’

Other than Paris, where Kramer Levin’s office has spun off to join Morgan Lewis,  New York is the only location with overlapping offices, with management confirming that there is a process in place for bringing the two teams together.

The combination is expected to create fresh opportunities for partners and clients alike. Mike Flockhart, global head of corporate at HSF, said: ‘Our ability to now offer global service, particularly in the US, is something we haven’t been able to do before on the transactional side.’

Roughly 120 of the merged firm’s more than 600 partners are in the US, instantly gifting HSF an opportunity to capitalise on growing market pressure for international firms to secure a foothold in the US. ‘

‘Any firm that does not have a significant presence in the US legal market but has global aspirations will be reflecting on what the A&O-Shearman merger and the HSF-Kramer combination mean for them,’ Flockhart stressed.

‘The US is such a compelling market to be in, and given the sheer size of the market, I’m sure there will be two or three other significant firms that will feel this puts them at a disadvantage, increasing their need to act with urgency.’

Looking ahead, the firm is taking a phased approach to integration, with early milestones centred on immediate client opportunities.

‘This will be a multi-year project,’ Flockhart concluded. ‘We’re creating something greater than the sum of its parts. The opportunities that emerge from a combination like this will fully unfold over time.’

Despite the positive reaction from the majority of partners, there has already been a handful of exits in London. Private equity partners David D’Souza and Ambarish Dash are set to join Morrison Foerster in the City, while product liability disputes partner Philip Pfeffer is moving to New York to join Jones Day’s business & tort litigation practice.

One partner inside the firm warned success wouldn’t be instant. They said: ‘We were losing clients due to not having a US operation, so this is good news – but there’s a lot of hard work ahead in executing a successful integration, and it will take many years to know if it’s a success.’

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McDermott and Schulte Roth merger set to create near-$3bn firm

merger

McDermott Will & Emery is set to combine with fellow US firm Schulte Roth & Zabel, in a deal that would create a combined firm with more than $2.8bn in revenue – big enough to place it on the brink of the top ten largest law firms in the world.

The deal will bring together Chicago-headquartered McDermott, which has 24 offices across the US and Europe and revenues of more than $2.2bn, with the $620m Schulte, a New York-bred firm with a presence in Washington DC and London and a strong reputation in the funds market.

In a statement, McDermott said that the firms ‘anticipate an official combination in the coming months’.

A spokesperson said: ‘McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel are actively finalizing a transformative combination. Schulte, the nation’s preeminent private capital law firm, is excited to align with McDermott, the firm that has achieved the strongest upward trajectory in Big Law over the past eight years. When complete, this will mark one of the most strategic and high-performing legal combinations in the industry’s history.’

McDermott, which already ranks 28th in the Global 100, posted a 16% bump to its topline revenue in its most recent financial results to $2.23bn, while profits per equity partner (PEP) jumped 21% to $4.8m.

Schulte also enjoyed double-digit financial growth in 2024, with revenues rising 13.5% to $618.8m and PEP up nearly 24% to $4.1m

Schulte has 365 lawyers and 78 equity partners, compared to McDermott’s 1,336 and 211.

In terms of Legal 500 rankings, McDermott boasts a total of 120 around the world, including six top-tier rankings in the US –  health insurers, life sciences, outsourcing, service providers, and contentious and noncontentious tax.

Schulte has a smaller footprint, with a total of 21 rankings, comprising 17 in the US – including top-tier rankings for alternative/hedge funds, financial services regulation: broker dealers, and shareholder activism: advice to shareholders, as well as four in the UK, where it is tier one for hedge funds.

The deal marks the latest example of consolidation in the legal industry, with two other recent mergers of top 100 firms combining a larger and more international outfit with a smaller, more US-focused one. Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin partners recently voted through the two firms’ combination in April in a deal set to go live on 1 June, while A&O Shearman completed its merger on 1 May last year.

McDermott and Schulte Legal 500 rankings

Firm Legal 500 guide Total rankings
McDermott United Kingdom 19
United States 34
Deutschland 17
EMEA 48
Latin America 2
Schulte United Kingdom 4
United States 17

McDermott and Schulte: combined revenues ($m)


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The top firms for value, billing and efficiency – and how they do it

Persistent pressure on clients to keep a lid on costs means obtaining value for money from external advisers is more important than ever – so which firms are doing the best job delivering on value?

Data collected by the Legal 500 has found that just one in three clients believe their external counsel provided better value for money over the past 12 months.

The data, compiled from responses from hundreds of thousands of clients during the annual Legal 500 research, also reveals the individual firms that are most highly rated across a host of client service metrics, including value, billing and efficiency, amongst many others.

Looking at client scores across value, billing and efficiency as a whole, the top-scoring firms in the top half of the Global 100 by revenue are Davis Polk, Wilson Sonsini, Paul Weiss, Goodwin and Paul Hastings.

Breaking down the data into sub-categories highlights other firms that are highly rated for more specific metrics such as resourcing, communication and billing transparency.

For this article, LB spoke to some of the top-rated UK-heritage firms in the Global 100 to find out the factors behind their high scores.

Bang for your buck

Communication & case/matter management:
top-scoring UK firms in the Global 100
Herbert Smith Freehills – 81.2
Eversheds Sutherland – 81.1
Ashurst – 80.9
CMS – 80.8
Hogan Lovells – 80.7

Under the value, billing and efficiency umbrella, the five metrics that Legal 500 referees are asked to score their law firms on are: billing transparency; value for work done; communication & case/matter management; appropriate resourcing; and efficiency in delivering the legal product.

Of those five metrics, Herbert Smith Freehills ranks top among UK-heritage firms (of which there are 18 in the Global 100) for both appropriate resourcing and communication & case/matter management.

HSF director of global workforce planning strategy and implementation Helen Hopkin attributes this in part to the firm’s commitment to building a dedicated team to handle delivery.

‘The original business case was to build out a team of 20 over three years’, she says. ‘We’re two years into that three-year plan now. We have resource managers in all our bigger practice groups now, and we’re still on a journey of rolling out resourcing across all practice groups.’

Hopkin’s team has access to a wealth of information on clients, finances, and staff, and they use that data to identify opportunities to streamline resourcing.

She explains: ‘We look for people who are highly utilised or underutilised, and make sure we’re actively supporting them to ensure they can be deployed onto matters when they have capacity, and conversely provide them with support if their workload is unsustainable’.

As well as ensuring continuity of service to clients, this data also enables the team to keep tabs on staff wellbeing. ‘Resource managers monitor the utilization of staff throughout a client matter – if they can see a lawyer is highly utilized week after week, they’ll arrange a check-in meeting with them,’ Hopkin explains.

Appropriate resourcing:
top-scoring UK firms in the Global 100
HSF – 77.2
CMS – 76.8
Eversheds Sutherland – 76.3
Freshfields – 76.1
Linklaters – 76.0

As with other firms, HSF also has a global alumni network which enables it to draw on former employees on an ad hoc basis to meet client demand, with the firm also outsourcing some work to preferred suppliers through contracts with two prominent alternative legal service providers.

Since opening a support base in Northern Ireland in 2011, the firm has also built up a global network of alternative legal services centres providing round-the-clock support on large-scale work. That network now spans 10 locations across Beijing, Belfast Brisbane, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, New York, Perth, Shanghai and Sydney, which between them house more than 350 lawyers, technologists and legal analysts.

As Hopkin explains: ‘We use external support on the really big matters, where we’ve got ten, twenty, or thirty people working, as well as to help manage ebbs and flows in the intensity of work.’

Resource managers sit in on practice group resourcing meetings, usually held weekly, working alongside practice managers, legal project managers and partners. ‘We’re trying to remove some of the work allocation burden from our partners’, says Hopkin. ‘Client partners understandably don’t always have transparency of talent available outside their team, so providing that information is very helpful.’

In addition, the firm has a strong focus on client feedback. UK and EMEA client director Chris Edwards comments: ‘We place great importance on understanding how our clients interpret every aspect of our performance, as it directly informs our strategy’.

Value-added service

Value for work done:
top-scoring UK firms in the Global 100
Ashurst – 75.1
Eversheds Sutherland – 75.0
CMS – 74.5
Pinsent Masons – 73.8
Gowling WLG – 73.8

Ashurst, meanwhile, has the highest score for value for work done among the UK heritage firms in the Global 100.

As with HSF, the firm has been building out a resourcing team, on the back of the arrival of practice resource manager Russ Martin from PwC in 2016.

Internal communication is key, says Martin. ‘The first thing we do is sit down with every partner and associate in the practice group and say, “How are things working?”‘, he explains. ‘Feedback from this consultation phase is anonymised, and it helps us get an honest feel for how things work in the group. We then feed back to the divisional head and work from there.’

Martin, a mental health first aid instructor, agrees that wellbeing is a core element of resourcing: ‘As far as I’m concerned, the two roles go hand in hand – the idea is that everybody is treated the same. We don’t want any preferential treatment,’ he says. ‘For example, from a wellbeing perspective, it’s about ensuring everyone gets a balance in terms of workload. What the resource manager can do is step in and make sure that’s followed as much as possible.’

‘We need to try to get as many fungible people in the team as possible’, Martin adds. ‘You might have someone who has spent their entire career in one subgroup. The ideal is, yes we have people who specialise in a subgroup, but if that subgroup goes quiet, we know they can turn their hands to one of the other subgroups. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and don’t fish from a shallow pool.’

He also emphasises that building strong working relationships with partners is crucial: ‘Partner X, who always works with one particular associate, will walk out of their office and choose that associate whenever a new piece of work comes in – that’s one of the biggest challenges. We’re not there to say no to that, but to challenge that. It’s about planting the seed, too. The partner might not go with our alternative suggestion this time, but they’ll think about that person next time around.’

Ashurst also makes use of its Ashurst Advance legal service delivery offering, which operates via three global delivery centres in Glasgow, Krakow and Brisbane. This allows the firm to provide what Ashurst Advance partner and advanced solutions head Nathan Bellgrove calls a ‘follow-the-sun delivery model’, and ensure consistent service around the clock.

Resource of inspiration

Efficiency in delivering the legal product:
top-scoring UK firms in the Global 100
BCLP – 80.6
HSF – 80.4
CMS – 80.0
Eversheds Sutherland – 79.9
Linklaters – 79.6

At CMS, which scores highly for appropriate resourcing among its UK heritage peers in the Global 100, the firm has clearly defined strategies for resourcing and billing, devised via what chief finance officer Andrew Richards calls a ‘consultative approach’, engaging with clients as well as commercial financial, legal operations, and project management business partners aligned to practice groups.

‘We have adopted a principle of ‘Control, Clarity and Certainty’ to ensure that throughout the matter process we provide our clients with control over their matter, clarity around delivery and certainty around billing’, says Richards. ‘Open communication about deliverables and billing transparency is key.’

While the billable hour remains ‘a key measure of productivity’, says Richards, the firm uses alternative fee arrangements on a ‘substantial’ number of matters.

‘Matters are projects’, he explains. ‘They are live and evolve. Billing discussions need to be an open and collaborative process. If clients understand the value of the work, we aim to have conversations that are focused on expectations, value and deliverables rather than purely around price-cutting.’

Billing transparency:
top-scoring UK firms in the Global 100
Eversheds Sutherland – 76.4
HSF – 75.7
Ashurst – 75.0
CMS – 74.9
Bird & Bird – 74.7

While Ashurst’s Martin acknowledges that practice and resource management is still relatively underdeveloped within law firms, the adoption of more sophisticated techniques is on the increase as more firms ramp up their use of both technology and data in relation to client service.

‘The Big Four and the major consultancy houses have all had resource management for decades,’ he explains. ‘It is still quite juvenile in the legal industry, but more and more firms realise they need to have it.’

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All of the scores in this article are compiled from referee responses collected during Legal 500 research. Benchmark scoring for our other criteria (lawyer/team quality, and sector and industry knowledge) and other sub-criteria is also available – we can provide data on a worldwide, jurisdictional, country-by-country, office or practice area perspective, with the option to select comparator firms. If you would like to know more, please contact [email protected] – we welcome all feedback on our data and what insights you would like to see.

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‘We think we’re undersold’ – Reed Smith London leaders set sights on challenging opinion

‘Our brand is not currently the most distinguishable. Becoming better known for the things we’re great at is definitely a goal for us. We think we’re undersold.’

Gregor Pryor, Reed Smith’s managing partner for Europe and the Middle East, and Brigid North, who took up the London managing partner role in January,  are on a mission to change perceptions about the firm in London.

The pair maintain that Reed Smith is under-appreciated in the City and needs to boost its profile.

Key to their plans is focusing on key industry sectors for the firm as a whole, like media – a sector in which Reed Smith is understood to have advised Sony Music on the $1bn acquisition of  Queen’s publishing and recorded music rights.

‘We’re not the number one private equity shop or perhaps natural first choice for M&A,’ says Pryor, ‘but our media and energy M&A work stands out. The job for Brigid and I is to see those industry groups drive more market-leading deals over the next three to five years.’

Alongside media & entertainment, Reed Smith’s other key industry sectors are:  energy and natural resources; financial services; healthcare & life sciences; and transportation.

North is clear about the advantages this industry focus brings, stating that the generations of expertise built up in these key industries helps retain and recruit talent attracted to interesting work for well-known clients.

As Pryor puts it, the firm’s aim is to be ‘the best in certain areas’ rather than across the board, with recruitment expected to focus on the same sectors.

The City arm’s most recent financial results saw revenue climb 15% in from $214m to $247m in 2024, against global revenue climbing by 5% to cross the $1.5bn mark for the first time. In contrast, over the last two years, London headcount has dropped slightly, with the office housing 332 lawyers, including 120 partners, in January 2025 compared with 365 lawyers, including 128 partners, in January 2023 – a drop of around 9%.

Now though, the pair are gearing up for modest growth in London, targeting  a headcount increase of between 5% and 8% over the next two years.

They maintain that there is firepower ready to be deployed should the right partners emerge in practices like private equity, corporate and disputes who align with Reed Smith’s sector focus.

Recent moves back this up, with the City office adding hiring capital markets partner Mark Drury from Linklaters, private equity partner Tom Whelan from McDermott, Will & Emery, corporate energy partner Nina Howell from King and Spalding and, most recently, capital markets partner Samantha Myers from Gowling WLG since December 2023.

The two leaders have no intention of joining pay wars at either associate or partner level to compete for talent though.

As Pryor explains: ‘It’s hard to add people if you’re not paying absolute top dollar, and we aren’t prepared to overpay.’

At £125,000 the firm’s NQ salary rate is the same as Ashurst’s and slightly behind Hogan Lovells and Herbert Smith Freehills, which both currently pay £135,000.

‘We aren’t going to get involved in the salary arms race — that’s crazy talk’, he says. ‘Neither are we a lifestyle firm. You have to find something in between that plays to our strengths — a  non-hierarchical culture, a warm and supportive environment, and training and development that turns people into much better lawyers.’

The culture point is also important to North. Still adapting to life as London head after taking over from Andrew Jenkinson in January, she is candid about her initial fears about the role, admitting:  ‘If I’m being honest, it comes with a certain amount of daunt and impostor syndrome.’

One of the first things she has done since taking up the post is embark on a listening exercise, speaking to associates, new joiners and the business development team to hear their views on the firm where she’s worked for 20 years.

The conversations helped her  ‘crystallise that we have a culture that is worth preserving’.

Boosting the bottom line

Outside London, Reed Smith has had a busy few months. In September last year it closed its Beijing office, reducing its Chinese footprint to Shanghai and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, in January, it launched an Atlanta office with a 15-partner private equity, M&A, finance and technology team from Atlanta law firm Morris, Manning & Martin and Greenberg Traurig. This was quickly followed by a February office opening in Denver with the addition of an 11-partner team focused on private equity, finance and technology from firms including Denver outfit Brownstein.

The firm also obtained a license from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice earlier this year and plans to open an office to consolidate its longstanding presence in the Kingdom.

Despite this recent international expansion, according to Pryor the longer term goal is to grow the bottom line more than extend geographic reach, with Pryor predicting that the firm’s investment in technology will play a role in this.

‘Barring a combination, we’re not going to grow that much in terms of global lawyer numbers, but I think there’s a legitimate path to us becoming a much more profitable business,’ he explains.

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BCLP sheds 8% of global business services team as firm cites investment in tech

BCLP office

BCLP is cutting around 8% of its global business services function, marking the third time in two years that the firm has made cutbacks across its support teams.

In a statement, the firm said it was undertaking a ‘business modernisation programme’, and that ‘the proposed changes will impact approximately 8% of the firm’s global business services population.’

The news comes after Trevor Varnes was appointed as global COO last month, having joined from Perkins Coie as global chief financial officer last year.

Varnes said that the firm’ was ‘embracing new ways of working, including investing in technology capabilities’, adding that the firm is ‘leveraging digital solutions and market-leading technology to modernise processes.’

BCLP CEO Steve Baumer said that the move was part of an effort to build ‘a stronger, more agile firm’ and ‘ensure our operations are fit to support our growth ambitions and client focus.’

‘We recognize the impact changes like these can have on our people, and we do not take these decisions lightly,’ Baumer added. ‘Our people remain at the heart of BCLP, and we are fully committed to supporting affected colleagues with care, fairness and transparency throughout.’

The latest cuts come after the firm let go of 47 business services professionals in May 2023, while last March the firm shed around 50 support staff across its US and UK operations.

BCLP had looked to be on a steadier footing of late, following a period of upheaval after the 2018 merger that created the firm. The firm saw six City partners depart in 2024, sharply down from 2022 when there were 15 exits.

The firm also posted revenue growth of 2.3% to $860m in its 2024 financials, while profit per equity partner rose 12% to $1.1m, marking a modest return to form after two years of declining turnover.

However, the wider context shows BCLP being overtaken by peers – in 2020, the firm placed 57th in LB’s Global 100; while by 2024, the firm had dropped 19 places to 76th. 

Speaking to LB last year, global senior partner Segun Osuntokun acknowledged that the firm had suffered challenges following the combination of Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner, but added that it was now now ‘a fully merged firm with its own identity’.

For more, see Marking a merger: how is BCLP’s transatlantic tie-up faring?

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Enterprise GC 2025: tackling burnout, managing board relations and future proofing in-house legal teams

What does it take to run an effective corporate legal team in a world that is constantly changing amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty, increasing regulatory burdens and the advent of new technology and AI?

Whatever individual challenge you’re looking at, the answer most certainly involves an open mind, a large dose of resilience and an equal portion of commitment.

Earlier this week more than 150 GCs and senior in-house lawyers from organisations including Starbucks, Reach, Jefferies, Amey, NatWest and Citi came together to discuss some of the biggest challenges facing in-house leaders at Legal Business’s flagship Enterprise GC event.

Held over two days at the Hilton London Wembley on 28-29 April, main stage sessions and breakout workshops were focused on managing in-house teams against the backdrop of two key themes: ever-increasing uncertainty and pressure.

Expertly helping the audience navigate these challenges were two performance coaches. Day one saw homeless runaway turned rally driving champion, TV presenter and author Penny Mallory teach the audience how mental toughness can be the difference between success and failure.

Meanwhile, Day two saw psychologist Jamil Qureshi set out how to turn ambition into achievement by making bold decisions, changing mindsets and bringing the team with you.

Trowers & Hamlins partner Jamie De Souza kicked off the panel sessions on day one with a mainstage session centred on every corporate’s biggest fear, particularly in the wake of the crisis at M&S – a cyber attack. He was joined on stage by Amey general counsel Jayne Bowie, Zscaler EMEA commercial legal head Chris O’Connell and Gary Kinsley, director at Cyber Group.

This was followed by a session led by Walker Morris on ESG and supply chains, which included Shiv Sibal, chief legal officer at Marshalls plc, as well as Ahead Partnership ESG consultant Steven Webb.

The afternoon sessions saw Laura Field, managing director at SSQ, lead Nicki Schroeder, Group GC at Reach, Stephanie Lopes, chief legal officer at Volt, and Latham & Watkins financial services litigation partner Nell Perks through an open and personal discussion around burnout and how to tackle wellbeing in the in-house legal team.

Fried Frank corporate partner Ian Lopez then led a panel of speakers including EG Group’s Lida Khanverdi, Jefferies head of EMEA and APAC M&A, Tariq Hussain, ArcelorMittal group M&A legal counsel Gideon French and Ricardo general counsel Harpreet Sagoo through a session on how GCs are managing to drive M&A deals in a fracturing world.

Day two was no less challenging, with DAC Beachcroft starting the day with a session on how to deal with internal issues effectively in the face of external scrutiny from regulators, police or courts, with partner Angela Hayes leading a panel that included Charlie Potter, co-head of global litigation and disputes at Brunswick. CIBC Europe head of legal Meghan Foreman-Purves and fellow DACB partner David Speakman.

Delegates then heard from legal AI experts Luminance, before a dynamic discussion about what in-house lawyers really think of their law firms, led by Legal Business’s Alex Ryan and Ben Wheway, who were joined by Lisa Lischak, divisional GC at DCC Technology, Evelyn Bueno at SumUp and Chris Ghazarian, COO and GC at DreamHost.

Grant Thornton’s Steve Holt steered IQVIA deputy GC Simon White and UK Debt Management Office GC Sharman Takin through a discussion around geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory change, before the Eagle Club’s Lesley Wan, Ofgem’s Sinead Murray and Legal & General GC (group corporate) Harriet Gallagher-Powell came together to discuss the relationship between GCs and the board, spanning everything from what the board want, to how to build relationships through to the impact of the Post Office scandal on the GC role.

Finally, First 100 Years founder Dana Denis-Smith and Jefferies EMEA and Asia GC Daniel Winterfeldt closed the event with a session on how in-house lawyers are navigating the post-Trump DE&I landscape.

Throughout the event, delegates had the opportunity to attend breakout sessions focusing on specific areas, such as Latham’s roundtable on class actions, a Legal Business session looking at how in-house teams can stay competitive against ever-increasing private practice salaries and a session on how to get involved in non-legal pro bono with Fifth Day.

Thanks to all sponsors and to everyone who attended. Please do get in touch with ideas for next year’s event!

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‘We need to remember how well we’ve been doing’ – new Eversheds chief Froud on leadership, tech and global goals

keith froud

‘What we need to remember is how well we’ve been doing’, says new Eversheds Sutherland chief Keith Froud, reflecting on a period that has seen the firm’s international revenue grow by 70% since his predecessor Lee Ranson took the helm in 2016-17.

With revenues rising from £438.6m during Ranson’s tenure to £749.4m for last financial year, Froud – who officially took over as global co-CEO and international chief executive on 1 May – is keen to emphasise that the current approach is paying off.

‘The firm’s global strategy has served us very well,’ he says. ‘I was very clear with the partners when I was elected that my focus will be to accelerate that to the next stage.’

Froud is a firm lifer, starting his career at legacy Eversheds in 1993, and served as international head of company and commercial from 2011 to 2017. He became international managing partner when Ranson became chief executive in 2017, and has worked closely with Ranson throughout his tenure.

‘For all the major strategic initiatives that we’ve had as a firm, I’ve been involved in the core team, and on most occasions working very closely with Lee’, he says.

‘Lee and I are great friends,’ he adds. ‘We worked together not only as chief executive and managing partner, but for six years before that when Lee was the managing partner and I headed our company and commercial group.’

Ranson has now taken on a new Dubai-based mandate to drive international growth in the Middle East and Asia, and Froud also points to specific opportunities in India, where liberalisation has been long-expected.

‘As a global law firm, India is a very important location,’ he says. ‘It’s the fastest growing economy in the world, and is expected to become the third biggest economy in the world. It’s part of the changing world order from a trading perspective – and the legal sector is opening up.’

As co-CEO, Froud will operate in tandem with his US counterpart Lino Mendiola, the firm’s former co-head of global energy. As US chief exec, Mendiola has succeeded Mark Wasserman, who led legacy firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan into its transatlantic merger with Eversheds in 2017.

The firm’s new leadership is due to circulate an updated strategy plan internally in the summer, after a global consultation earlier in the year and a global partner conference in March.

‘We want to focus on the things that will give us the ability to be powerful globally and strong locally’, says Froud. ‘The world is full of clients and potential clients who will need our help, and those clients will need our help all around the world, both on multijurisdictional matters and in local markets.’

Also in focus for the firm is increasing collaboration across its international and US arms. ‘We don’t have any immediate plans for full financial integration’, says Froud. ‘But a big part of the next stage will be how we further align, come together, and share approaches, with systems integration a big part of that. We want to make sure we reduce operational friction as much as we can.’

This will involve integration across technology as well as areas like marketing and staffing. ‘No one knows when or how, but technology will present a huge change’, says Froud. ‘We want to be at the forefront of that. During Lee’s tenure, it was led from the absolute top, and it will continue to be.’

The firm has also announced a new broader leadership line-up (details below), with the international managing partner and international head of company and commercial roles split into two new positions.

Former global company commercial co-head Keri Rees will now serve as managing partner for practice groups and regions, with former European managing partner Helen Thomas becoming managing partner for clients and business delivery.

Froud explains: ‘My old role was very broad by the end. The structure that we set up in 2017 worked then, but as the business has become larger and more complex, it began to make sense to reconsider the remit of each role. The new structure allows each individual to give their full attention to each area.’

Former global energy co-head Stephen Hill is now corporate finance practice group head and global co-head of corporate finance, while former technology group head Simon Gamlin has stepped into a role as commercial advisory practice group head and global co-head of commercial advisory.

‘Our old company and commercial practice group included corporate, finance, and commercial, as well as tax, competition, and funds’, says Froud. ‘With each of those areas so important to the strategy moving forwards, we’ve split that up, into corporate finance on the one hand and commercial advisory on the other.’

Again, this change will allow leaders to give more dedicated attention to each area as the firm continues to grow.

‘You’ve got to be imaginative’, says Froud, pointing to the firm’s 2023 cooperation agreement with King & Wood Mallesons as an example. ‘In a disrupted world, you need to be able to think creatively to focus on how you can do the best for your clients. It’s all about the clients.’

[email protected]

Eversheds Sutherland (International) leadership – all roles UK-based unless specified

Position Name
Executive
Chief executive officer Keith Froud
Managing partner – practice groups and regions Keri Rees
Managing partner – clients and business delivery Helen Thomas
Chief people officer Lorraine Kilborn
Chief financial officer Julian Lee
Practice group leaders
Corporate finance Stephen Hill
Commercial advisory Simon Gamlin
Regional leaders
European managing partner and managing partner, Germany Alexander Niethammer (Munich)
Deputy managing partner, Germany Joos Hellert (Munich)
Paris senior officer and consumer sector group lead Catherine Detalle (Paris)
Netherlands senior office partner Natascha Geraedts (Amsterdam)
Dubai senior office partner Rebecca Copley (Dubai)
Product group heads
Corporate Antony Walsh
Commercial Peter McCormack
Employment Paul Fontes
Sector group leaders
Energy Jubilee Easo
Industrials Adam Fisher

 

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More than 100 jobs at risk as DWF looks to make cuts

20 Fenchurch Street (aka the Walkie Talkie)

More than 100 DWF staff are at risk of redundancy as the firm looks to cut costs in its commercial services and central services divisions.

The firm is conducting a consultation with 108 employees in the two divisions, with a spokesperson confirming that the firm expects a ‘proportion of these roles to be made redundant’.

In its statement, DWF cited its strategy of ‘long-term, sustainable growth’, which required it to be ‘responsive to the economic environment and ensuring our teams reflect the changing needs of our clients’.

The firm’s statement added: ‘We understand that this is a very difficult situation for those colleagues involved and we are committed to a meaningful consultation and responding to questions or concerns raised.’

In the event that cuts are confirmed, this would not the first time in recent years that DWF has made headcount reductions. In 2021, the firm closed three offices in Australia, leading to around 100 job losses, while in 2020, it closed its Singapore and Brussels offices, resulting in around 60 job losses, while also that year cutting around 15 UK staff support positions.

DWF is the largest UK firm owned by private equity, after it was taken private by specialist mid-market PE firm Inflexion in October 2023. The deal came after an underwhelming four years as a listed firm in which shares listed at 122p and dropped to a low of 53p in June 2020.

In its most recent accounts, DWF reported 8% organic growth for its commercial division, which combines its legal advisory arm with business services, adding that that growth came ‘despite a challenging transactional environment’.

The global transactional environment continues to be challenging, with managing partners and M&A leaders predicting a ‘period of relative caution’ in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s recent actions regarding tariffs and trade.

[email protected]

 

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Top lawyers in Boston, Miami, Charlotte revealed in latest Legal 500 US elite rankings

Miami, Florida, US

Legal 500 has unveiled the latest in its US elite rankings – naming some of the leading partners across key practice areas in Boston, Miami and Charlotte.

A total of 188 lawyers from 101 firms have been selected in the new rankings, which spotlight the top lawyers working at firms outside the global elite firms.

The series launched in February with rankings for New York, Chicago, and Washington DC.

The latest city rankings cover two practice areas in each location: commercial litigation and corporate and M&A in Boston; commercial and international disputes and international corporate and M&A in Miami; and commercial litigation and intellectual property in Charlotte.

The practice areas were selected to focus on the most important and high-value work in each city, highlighting the strengths of each individual market. Seventy six of the firms ranked across all practice areas have not been previously recognised by the Legal 500 in any capacity, including as a firm to watch.

Eight of the 101 firms have four or more lawyers ranked, with North Carolina full-service firm Moore & Van Allen in the lead with a total of eight ranked lawyers in Charlotte, four each in commercial litigation and IP.

Three firms are in joint second place by number of rankings.

Birmingham, Alabama-headquartered Bradley Arant Boult Cummings has six ranked lawyers in Charlotte, including four in commercial litigation and two in IP.

The tally ties it with Florida full-service firm Shutts & Bowen, with six ranked lawyers in Miami – four in international disputes and two in international commercial law.

The final firm with six ranked lawyers is Stearns Weaver Miller Alhadeff & Sitterson, which also has four lawyers ranked in international disputes and two in international commercial law in Miami.

Most individual lawyer rankings by firm

Firm Rankings Details
Moore & Van Allen 8 Charlotte: commercial litigation (4), IP (4)
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings 6 Charlotte: commercial litigation (4), IP (2)
Shutts & Bowen 6 Miami: international commercial law (2), international disputes (4)
Stearns Weaver Miller 6 Miami: international commercial law (2), international disputes (4)
Brown Rudnick 4 Boston: commercial litigation (1), corporate and M&A (3)
Choate, Hall & Stewart 4 Boston: commercial litigation (2), corporate and M&A (2)
Gunster Law Firm 4 Miami: international commercial law (3), international disputes (1)
Robinson Bradshaw 4 Charlotte: commercial litigation (3), IP (1)

Looking only at tier one rankings, four firms have three lawyers each in the top tier.  Miami’s Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena and Garro and Jun Avila each have three top-tier rankings in international commercial law, while Brown Rudnick has three T1 rankings in Boston (one in commercial litigation and two in corporate and M&A), and Moore & Van Allen has three in Charlotte (one in commercial litigation and two in IP).

Firms with at least three tier 1 individual rankings

Firm Lawyer name Ranking
Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena and Garro Carlos Abarca Miami: international commercial law
Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena and Garro Eugenio Hernandez Miami: international commercial law
Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena and Garro Manuel Rodriguez Miami: international commercial law
Brown Rudnick Wayne Dennison Boston: commercial litigation
Brown Rudnick John Cushing Boston: corporate and M&A
Brown Rudnick Samuel Williams Boston: corporate and M&A
Jun Avila Jose Avila Miami: international commercial law
Jun Avila Andrew Jun Miami: international commercial law
Jun Avila Paul Jun Miami: international commercial law
Moore & Van Allen Thomas Myrick Charlotte: commercial litigation
Moore & Van Allen Kathryn Cole Charlotte: intellectual property
Moore & Van Allen Michele Glessner Charlotte: intellectual property

As Legal 500 continues to grow its US elite rankings, it will cover markets from Philadelphia and Atlanta to Texas and Ohio, and many more. For updates on release and research deadlines, check the US elite page.

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A&O Shearman and Freshfields both make up nine London lawyers in latest partnership rounds

A&O Shearman and Freshfields have unveiled their latest crop of partner promotions, with nine London lawyers getting the nod at both firms.

Thirty-three lawyers have made the grade at A&O Shearman, a slight decrease on the 40 made up across both legacy firms on the merger go-live date in May last year, when 32 Allen & Overy lawyers and eight from Shearman & Sterling were promoted.

M&A saw the largest intake, with 10 new partners added, three of who are based in London – Tina Barazandeh-Nejad, Aoife Mac Dermott and Fatima Al-Shawaf.

The other six London promotions include three in debt finance, with one each in asset finance and real estate, as well as the promotion of senior associate Thomas McGuffie, a founding member of the firm’s markets innovation group, a team of lawyers, technologists and developers who collaborate to devise innovative solutions for large-scale client issues.

Four of the 33 promotions are in the US, shared between New York, Dallas and Washington DC, with nine spread across the the firm’s European offices, four in APAC and two in Dubai.

In a statement, managing partner Hervé Ekué said that the geographical spread of the promotions reflected the firm’s ‘continued investment in developing our market-leading offering across markets, products and sectors.’

Energy, natural resources, and infrastructure was the second most prominently represented practice with five promotions, while debt finance, litigation and investigations, and real estate each saw three apiece.

The promotions come after the newly merged firm conducted a post-merger strategic review, which saw it end its consultancy business, close its South Africa office and announce plans to cut roughly 10% of its partnership, with LB reporting in January that more than 100 partners had left the firm since the combination.

Meanwhile, fellow magic circle firm Freshfields has promoted 25 new partners around the world, marking a slight increase from last year’s figure of 23, but a reduction from 30 in 2024 and 27 in 2023.

The firm’s dispute resolution and global transactions practice groups are the best-represented in this round, with nine partners each. Antitrust, competition and trade saw three elevations, while the people and rewards and tax practice areas have been both bolstered by two new partners.

The nine London promotions were divided between dispute resolution (five) and global transactions (four). After the UK, Germany was the second-biggest beneficiary with six new partners divided between the firm’s Frankfurt, Hamburg and Düsseldorf offices.

In the US, a focus of significant investment for Freshfields in recent years – and its fastest-growing region, with revenue up 26% from £311m to £391m last year – the firm has made up three lawyers, all based in New York.

Beyond this, the Brussels office elevated two lawyers to the partnership, while Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Amsterdam each saw one new partner added.

As with last year, 52% of the promoted partners are female, meaning the firm is continuing to meet its 2021-26 global gender diversity targets for new partners to be at least 40% women.

Senior partner Georgia Dawson (pictured) said in a statement: ‘This cohort of new partners deliver market-leading legal expertise for our global client base. They bring with them the insight, ambition and leadership that will help guide the firm and our teams into the future, shaping how we grow, evolve and continue to deliver for our clients.’

Elswhere, Dentons has confirmed its latest round of promotions across the firm’s UK, Ireland, and the Middle East business. A total of ten lawyers have made the grade, including four in London, two in Milton Keynes, and one each in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Dubai was the only non-UK office to see any partner elevations, with two lawyers made up.

 

 

 

Partner promotions in full

A&O Shearman

Ferhat Afkar, ENRI, Jakarta
Jackson Allen, ENRI, Perth
Tina Barazandeh-Nejad, M&A, London
Matthew Brown, Tax, Washington D.C.
James Bryson, Global Financial Markets, New York
Tomas Bury, M&A, Bratislava
Mike Campbell, ENRI, Dubai
Richard Chamberlain, ENRI, Dubai
Jackie Donald, M&A, Perth
Evgenia Erakhtina, Asset Finance, London
Temilope Esho, Debt Finance, London
Vittoria Faraone, Funds and Asset Management, Luxembourg
Michael Fink, Real Estate, Düsseldorf
Paul Fortin, Litigation and Investigations, Paris
James Green, Debt Finance, London
John Hibbard, Tax, New York
Benjamin Lacourt, Funds and Asset Management, Paris
Jules Lecoeur, M&A, Paris
Xin Ni Lim, Debt Finance, London
Simone Lowes, M&A, Sydney
Aoife Mac Dermott, M&A, London
Billy Marsh, Litigation and Investigations, Dallas
Thomas McGuffie, Markets Innovation Group, London
Tzvetomira Pacheva, ENRI, Paris
Alessandra Pala, Global Financial Markets, Rome
Emma Perrin, Real Estate, London
Sebastian Remberg, M&A, Hamburg
Kayleigh Sanders, M&A, Amsterdam
Hauke Sattler, Restructuring, Hamburg
Fatima Al-Shawaf, M&A, London
Pol Theisen, M&A, Luxembourg
Pieter Tieskens, Real Estate, Amsterdam
Charlotte Willemer, Litigation and Investigations, Frankfurt

Freshfields

Aaron Green, Antitrust, Competition and Trade, Brussels
Janet Lang, Antitrust, Competition and Trade, Brussels
Alvaro Pliego Selie, Antitrust, Competition and Trade, Amsterdam
Ramya Arnold, Dispute Resolution, London
Rohit Bhat, Dispute Resolution, Singapore
Nicholas A. Caselli, Dispute Resolution, NY
Joshua Kelly, Dispute Resolution, London
Emily Knight, Dispute Resolution, London
James Raeside, Dispute Resolution, London
Katharina Shingler, Dispute Resolution, Frankfurt
Stefanie Spancken-Monz, Dispute Resolution, Düsseldorf
Jessica Steele, Dispute Resolution, London
Meredith Bayley, Global Transactions, London
Michael Black, Global Transactions, London
Cristina Esteve, Global Transactions, Madrid
Carsten Haak, Global Transactions, Frankfurt
Kate Hatcher, Global Transactions, London
Jeff Jay, Global Transactions, NY
Jon Scurr, Global Transactions, London
Charlotte Stevens, Global Transactions, Abu Dhabi
Daniel von Bülow, Global Transactions, Frankfurt
Elodie Favre-Thellmann, People & Reward, Paris
Judith Römer, People & Reward, Hamburg
Sarah Katz, Tax, NY
Sebastian Röger, Tax, Frankfurt

Dentons

James Francis, Asset, Trade & Export Finance, London
Faris Shehabi, Dispute Resolution, Dubai
Kirsty McBirnie, Corporate Lending & Real Estate Finance, Edinburgh
Lorna Henderson, Corporate Lending & Real Estate Finance, Glasgow
Tom Hanson, Litigation & Arbitration, London
Tasmyn Brittlebank, Projects, Milton Keynes
Torquil Law, Projects, London
Hazel Shakur Quinn, Real Estate, Dubai
Lorna Rogers, Real Estate, Milton Keynes
Anna Brown, Technology, Media & Telecoms, London

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Top UK firms ramp up New York M&A hiring with fivefold increase in three years

Top UK firms have increased their New York M&A partner hiring fivefold since 2021, according to transatlantic recruiter Macrae’s 2024 Legalscape report.

The firms collectively hired 11 lateral M&A partners in the city in 2024, compared to two in 2021 and none in 2020.

The figures also show a significant increase in the number of M&A partners being recruited more generally in New York, with the number of M&A laterals to top US, UK, and international firms climbing from 45 in 2021 to 65 in 2004.

UK firms represented 17% of last year’s hires, compared to just 4% of those made in 2021.

New York-based Macrae partner Jon Truster said the increase in M&A recruitment activity is partly down to firms’ willingness to up top-level remuneration.

‘The top of compensation changed at the beginning of last year, to around $25m’, he said. ‘Certain firms were able to take advantage of that. Paul Weiss in particular was able to be quite aggressive, and was a big beneficiary of that.’

Paul Weiss was the most active firm tracked in Macrae’s data, making six M&A partner hires in New York. The steady uptick in compensation has also seen more lateral hiring from traditionally conservative firms like Simpson Thacher, which came in joint third place for 2024 with four hires.

No group of firms has increased its hiring at the rate of the erstwhile magic circle, however.

Legacy Allen & Overy took a different tack with its major transatlantic merger last year – but each of the other three international magic circle firms features among Macrae’s top hirers for New York M&A.

The London-headquartered firms also saw no New York M&A partners leave in 2024, compared to one exit per year in 2023, 2022, and 2020, and two in 2021.

Market perception of the firms’ progress however remains mixed. ‘The magic circle firms are definitely being more aggressive in the US’, said one New York M&A partner at a US firm, before concluding that they remain ‘a work in progress.’

Firms by most New York M&A partner hires

Firm New York M&A partners added
Paul Weiss 6
Freshfields 5
Loeb & Loeb 4
Simpson Thacher 4
Clifford Chance 3
Linklaters 3
Holland & Knight 2
Hunton Andrews Kurth 2

Linklaters opened the year with its high-profile January hire of a six-lawyer team from then-Shearman & Sterling, including partners M&A partners George Casey, Heiko Schiwek, and Gregory Gewirtz.

Legal 500 $1bn+ M&A Hall of Famer Casey, now Linklaters’ global chairman of corporate, served as global managing partner at Shearman from 2018, and since joining Linklaters has worked on deals including leading the team that advised Rio Tinto on its $6.7bn acquisition of Arcadium Lithium last October.

Freshfields, meanwhile, was the most active UK firm with five M&A hires, putting it second overall, behind only Paul Weiss.

Its biggest recruits of the year were Latham private equity M&A partners Neal Reenan and Ian Bushner, who joined in March as global private capital co-head and US private capital head respectively.

The firm also added to its junior benches. In January it hired Sanjay Murti, who made partner at Cravath in 2022 – ‘on the junior end, but nonetheless a force to be reckoned with’, according to one commentator – as well as Kirkland partner Steven Li, another Cravath alum, who left that firm in 2021 as a senior associate to join Kirkland as a partner.

It rounded out its number with its June 2024 hire of Kirkland M&A partner Joshua Ayal.

The hires saw Freshfields continue an aggressive New York buildout that has seen it snatch a clutch of high-profile laterals in recent years, from a Cleary team led by Ethan Klingsberg in 2019 through the 2021 hire of Damien Zoubek from Cravath to co-lead the US corporate and M&A practice alongside Klingsberg.

Both Klingsberg and Zoubek are Legal 500 leading partners for $1bn+ deals, with Jenny Hochenberg, who joined from Cravath in 2022, ranked as a next-generation partner.

Klingsberg’s hire has proved pivotal for Freshfields’ US strategy. Already, in 2025, he is leading the team advising Google, once a key client of Klingsberg’s at Cleary, on its prospective acquisition of Wiz, valued at $32bn.

Working with Klingsberg on the deal are M&A partners Denny Kwon, who joined the firm from Covington in Silicon Valley last April, and Li.

Clifford Chance, meanwhile, is in joint fourth place with three hires. The firm hired White & Case partner Chang-Do Gong – now US M&A co-head – in May, in a play that has seen the firm bring over more M&A talent from White & Case into 2025, with Bryan Luchs joining in March and Robert Chung following this week.

In addition to Gong, the firm rounded out its 2024 hires with O’Melveny PE partners David Schultz and Vince Ferrito, in October and November respectively.

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Revolving Doors: Sidley picks up Latham City corporate co-chair, two leave HSF in London, and A&O Shearman readies Chicago launch

Sidley Austin made waves in London this week with another senior partner hire from Latham & Watkins, bringing over Latham’s London corporate co-chair David Stewart (pictured).

Stewart is the ninth Latham partner to join Sidley in the last eight months, following the August move of a five-partner leveraged finance team led by Legal 500 acquisition finance Hall of Famer Sam Hamilton and leading individual Jayanthi Sadanandan, the October hire of capital markets partners Scot Colwell and Patrick Kwak, and the December hire of Latham London finance co-chair Tania Bedi.

‘We have a very specific way we integrate laterals,’ Sidley management committee chair Yvette Ostolaza told Legal Business. ‘By the time you join the firm, you’re well-positioned to succeed. Dave is an example of that. We wanted someone who can help us grow our cross-border practice, and Dave fits that role perfectly.’

She continued: ‘We aim to continue to invest and grow key industry verticals including tech, life sciences, energy/infrastructure, and private equity.’

London managing partner Tom Thesing added: ‘We’re in expansion mode. There will be more hires in the near term.’

Though Latham also saw Silicon Valley partner Tony Richmond depart to become chief legal officer at American Airlines, the firm was also active, bringing over London A&O Shearman structured finance duo Franz Ranero and James Smallwood.

Ranero is a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for securitisation.  His arrival with Smallwood deepens Latham’s expertise in collateralised loan obligations, and adds to a total of more than 100 partners to leave A&O Shearman since the Allen & Overy-Shearman & Sterling merger was announced in 2023.

Hot on the heels of its own transatlantic merger approval vote, Herbert Smith Freehills also saw two London partners leave, with PE partner Joseph Dennis set to join Dechert and Legal 500 product liability defendant leading partner litigator Philip Pfeffer moving across the Atlantic to join Jones Day in New York.

Also active in London was Weil, which hired PE secondaries partner Simon Saitowitz from Ropes & Gray. Saitowitz returns to the US firm after leaving as an associate to join Fried Frank as a partner in 2017, and moving to Ropes & Gray in 2022.

Meanwhile, Paul Weiss hired Legal 500 fund finance next-generation partner Cameron Roper from Proskauer, marking the acquisitive US firm’s first fund finance hire in London.

Baker Botts hired Vinson & Elkins global project finance practice head Nabil Khodadad as head of project finance for its international office. Khodadad made the move with counsel and Legal 500 oil and gas leading associate Alistair Wishart, who joins Baker Botts as a partner.

Shoosmiths hired Bird & Bird real estate finance partner James Salford, while Crowell & Moring hired AI and emerging tech specialist Emma Wright into its Privacy and Cybersecurity Group from Harbottle & Lewis. A Legal 500 leading partner in artificial intelligence, IT and telecoms, and industry focus: tech, media, and telecoms, Wright is also co-founder and director of the Interparliamentary Forum on Emerging Technologies and an executive committee member of the global UNESCO Women4Ethical AI platform.

DWF saw the departures of insolvency and restructuring partner Natasha Atkinson and finance and restructuring partner Matt Williams to Pillsbury and Taylor Wessing, respectively. Finally in London, Wedlake Bell hired corporate partner Hollie Gallagher from Broadfield, formerly BDB Pitmans.

In New York, Clifford Chance continued to build its New York corporate M&A benches with the hire of Robert Chung. Chung is the third corporate M&A to leave W&C for CC in the Big Apple in a year, following Bryan Luchs this March and Chang-Do Gong, who joined the firm last May and now co-heads its US M&A practice.

Meanwhile, A&O Shearman readied to launch its Chicago office, the firm’s tenth in the US, with its hire of Mayer Brown energy and infrastructure partners Paul Astolfi and Katy McNeil.

Astolfi joined Mayer Brown as a partner in 2010 and served as co-head of its global projects and infrastructure group. He is based in Dallas and spends significant time in Chicago, where McNeil, who made partner in 2023, works full-time. A&O Shearman will launch in Chicago ‘subject to requisite approvals’.

Also opening a new office was Fenwick, which established a presence in Boston with its hire of a three-partner life sciences IP team from Cooley comprising Matthew Pavao, Heidi Erlacher, and Chen Chen.

Finally in the United States, Brown Rudnick launched in Los Angeles with a four-partner hire from US firm Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, bringing litigators Daniel Rozansky and Nicholas Rozansky into its brand and reputation management group, as well as corporate and M&A partner Jonathan Friedman and litigator and trial counsel John De La Merced.

In Europe, King & Spalding hired Brussels data, privacy, and security partner Charles-Albert Helleputte from Squire Patton Boggs, where he was EU practice head and global data privacy, cybersecurity, and digital assets team co-chair. Helleputte is the third partner to join K&S in Brussels, following Baker McKenzie trade duo Arnoud Willems and Bregt Natens in February.

Meanwhile, Jones Day hired a four-lawyer team from RocaJunyent in Madrid led by banking and finance partner José Luis Pita da Veiga Subirats.

Finally, this week LB waves goodbye to two of its own, with city editor Elisha Juttla and reporter Anna Huntley both leaving the team. We wish them all the best.

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FCA unveils £20m legal line-up, with Clifford Chance and Eversheds among firms not reappointed

FCA SIGN

The Financial Conduct Authority has updated its legal services framework with a new four-year panel running from 1 April 2025 until 1 March 2029, valued at up to £20m and featuring 14 law firms.

Clifford Chance, Norton Rose Fulbright, Eversheds Sutherland, Pinsent Masons, Clyde & Co, and Clarke Wilmott all featured on the FCA’s previous panel but have not been reappointed. 

Ashurst, Dentons, DLA Piper, Mills & Reeves, Burges Salmon, Bevan Brittan, Broadfield, Kingsley Napley, and Gowling WLG have retained their places.

The framework also features five new firms: Addleshaw Goddard, CMS, Fieldfisher, Brodies, and TLT.

Although the new panel includes one fewer firm than before, the estimated spend of £20m, according to a government website, marks a significant increase from the City watchdog’s previous four-year framework. That earlier framework, which ran from August 2020 to June 2024, had a contract value of £8.6m.

As previously, the framework is divided into two lots: public law and corporate and commercial law. The FCA took bids from firms that wished to appear on the roster between July and September 2024, with the panel initially expected to take effect from January 2025.

It has been an eventful period for the regulator. Despite strong criticism of the City watchdog from an all-party parliamentary group report in November, with its leaders branded ‘opaque’ and ‘unaccountable’, FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi was reappointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, for a second five-year term running to 2030 earlier this month.

Last month, the watchdog decided against bringing in new diversity and inclusion rules for financial firms. While the move was explained as a way of decreasing the ‘regulatory burden’ in the context of the government’s drive for economic growth, it came in the context of a widespread retreat from diversity policies across the financial and legal sectors in the face of pressure across the Atlantic from US President Donald Trump.

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Partner promotions down to multi-year lows as HSF, Eversheds, and Taylor Wessing announce 2025 numbers

Herbert Smith Freehills, Eversheds Sutherland, and Taylor Wessing announced their 2025 partner promotions, with total numbers down at each firm.

Hot on the heels of its transatlantic tie-up with US firm Kramer Levin being voted through by the partnership of both firms, HSF announced the promotion of 19 partners (pictured above), effective from 1 May 2025, down from last year’s number of 27.

Five are based in the firm’s London office, while a further seven are in Australia, spread around the firm’s offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.

Energy, identified as a ‘jewel in our crown’ by HSF CEO Justin D’Agostino in a November interview with LB, was a major theme of the promotions, with five of the promotions involving energy specialists and a further two involving partners with expertise in mining.

HSF also made 23 lateral partner hires this year, with Düsseldorf the largest beneficiary, having welcomed five new partners.

‘I am delighted to welcome our new cohort of exceptionally talented lawyers into the partnership’, said D’Agostino in a statement. ‘As we embrace an exciting future as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, our new partners enable us to build on our existing strengths and to add depth to our global offering and client relationships. I am confident they will achieve great success as partners.’

Elsewhere, Eversheds Sutherland (International) elevated 23 lawyers to the partnership, 52% of whom are women. The number represents a significant decrease from last year’s firm record of 40, and is also down from 2023’s total of 29 and 2022’s total of 31.

British partners dominated the round, with six promotions in London, four in Birmingham,  two each in Nottingham and Newcastle, and one each in Manchester, Leeds, and Cardiff, adding up to 74% of all promotions.

CEO Lee Ranson said in a statement: ‘Our 2025 newly promoted partners have exceptional legal talent and an unwavering commitment to developing deep and trusted relationships with our clients. I have no doubt that together these new partners have the drive, vision and energy to help shape a successful future for our global firm.’

Finally, Taylor Wessing announced a total of ten partner promotions for 2025, six of whom are women. The number represents a notable decline from last year when 18 partners were made up. The figure is the lowest since 2020 when five partners were made up.

Four of the 10 are London-based and two are based in Dublin, while the firm’s Hamburg, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Vienna offices saw one promotion apiece.

Global co-chair and UK managing partner Shane Gleghorn said in a statement: ‘We are delighted to announce our 2025 cohort of new partners and senior counsel whose expertise and leadership will be focused on delivering the highest levels of service to our clients.’

Full list of partner promotions by firm

Herbert Smith Freehills

Emily Coghlan, Melbourne – Digital Legal and Legal Technology
Michael D’Agostino, Melbourne – Projects
Eliza Eaton, London – Energy
Maxwell Herman, New York – Product Liability and Complex Torts
Thomas Herman, Paris – Energy and Infrastructure
Gabby Herron-Cartwright, Brisbane – Energy and Infrastructure
Tamanna Islam, Sydney – Financial Services Regulation
Hannes Jacobi, Frankfurt – Energy, Infrastructure and Real Estate Finance
Rémi Jouaneton, Paris – Corporate Crime & Investigations and Compliance
Geoff Kerrigan, Perth – M&A and Mining
Madeleine Miller, Melbourne – M&A
Eunice Park, Sydney – Commercial Litigation and Investigations
Nicolas Pol, Paris – Commercial Litigation and Insurance
Camille Puech-Baron, Brussels – Competition, Regulation and Trade
Krishna Shorewala, London – Funds and Asset Management
Charlotte Whight, London – Energy and Infrastructure
Joe Williams, London – Competition Disputes and Economic Regulation
Shaun Williamson, London – M&A and Mining
Li-Lian Yeo, Sydney – M&A, Private Equity and Restructuring, Turnaround & Insolvency

Eversheds Sutherland

Mike Birkett, London – Corporate
Shelley Evans, Cardiff – Corporate
Peter Greenall, London – Banking
Steve Jennings, Dubai – Corporate
Anne-Louise Lawrence, Birmingham – Restructuring
Sheena Wells, London – Banking
Nicolette Sanders, London – Commercial
Monika Zejden-Erdmann, London – Competition
Michał Wojciechowski, Warsaw – Public Contracts
Michael Hardiman, Birmingham – Employment
Nerys Ireland, Birmingham – Employment
Chloe Themistocleous, Manchester – Employment
David Williams, Newcastle – Employment
José Pedro Alberca, Madrid – Financial Services Disputes and Investigations
Alexander Cook, Leeds – Commercial Dispute Resolution
Daniel Jackson, Nottingham – Financial Services Disputes and Investigations
Samantha Miller, Birmingham – Real Estate Litigation
Carlos Pires, London – Commercial Dispute Resolution
Duncan Watt, Hong Kong – Commercial Dispute Resolution
Roberta Wertman, Abu Dhabi – Construction Litigation
Karen Mutton, Nottingham – Planning
Kathrin Paulet, Dusseldorf – Core Real Estate
Kate Sutton, Newcastle – Core Real Estate

Taylor Wessing

Richard Faichney, UK – Corporate Technology and Life Sciences
Johanna Götz, Germany – Technology, Media & Telecoms
Lacy Gratton, UK – Corporate Real Estate & Private Capital
Dannie Hanna, Ireland – Corporate
Jo Joyce, Ireland – Technology, IP and Information
Andrew Payne, UK – Patents
Clare Reynolds, UK – Technology, IP and Information
Marie Keup, Belgium – Brands & Advertising and Copyright & Media Law
Martijn Loth, Netherlands – Tech & Data
Carmen Redmann-Wippel, Austria – Banking & Finance

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Kirkland, Latham, A&O Shearman among latest to cut deals with Trump administration

Five more top US and international firms have cut deals with US President Donald Trump, offering a combined total of $600m in pro bono and other legal work in exchange for protection from potential executive orders, according to posts on the president’s Truth Social account on Friday (11 April).

Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher, and Latham & Watkins have agreed to provide $125m in legal services each, while Cadwalader has agreed to $100m.

The news comes a week after Skadden cut its own deal offering $100m in pro bono services, followed by Willkie on 1 April and Milbank on 2 April. These eight firms  were among 20  contacted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on 17 March requesting detailed data on all applicants and hires since 2019.

Paul Weiss became the first firm to reach an arrangement with the administration on 21 March, agreeing to provide $40m in pro bono services in return for an executive order against it being dropped.

The new deals bring the total value of pro bono and free legal services work secured by the administration to $940m.

According to Trump’s posts, all five firms have pledged their pro bono services ‘to causes that President Trump and the law firms both support and agree to work on’, including providing assistance to veterans and public services, ensuring fairness in the justice system, and combating antisemitism.

The president has also mused publicly about enlisting the firms to work on coal leasing deals, as well as using them to represent the administration in trade policy negotiations over sweeping tariffs that have sent ripples through the global economy since they were first imposed on 2 April.

According to the site, the firms have also agreed to drop what the President’s posts called ‘illegal DEI discrimination and preferences’, and affirmed that they would not deny representation to clients ‘because of the political views of individual lawyers’.

In exchange, the administration announced that the EEOC has withdrawn the letters it sent to the firms on 17 March requesting detailed data on all applicants and hires since 2019.

The administration has also agreed not to pursue any claims related to issues of hiring and employment practices’ compliance with discrimination legislation raised in the EEOC letters.

Firms are cutting pre-emptive deals to protect themselves from both EEOC enforcement and further executive action.

Of the firms to have come to arrangements with the administration so far, only Paul Weiss was subject to an executive order directed against it. The order suspended all security clearances held by Paul Weiss employees, directed federal agencies to review and terminate all contracts with Paul Weiss, and limited Paul Weiss personnel’s access to all federal buildings.

In an email to staff published by David Lat on his Substack ‘Original Jurisdiction’, Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp described the order as an ‘existential crisis’, and argued that the deal was the best way for the firm to fulfil both its obligation to its clients and its ‘fiduciary duty’ to its employees.

Some firms, however, are fighting the orders, with Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, and Jenner & Block each achieving court rulings placing a temporary hold on the orders issued against them.

Last Friday, Susman Godfrey became the fourth firm to file suit against the administration, arguing in its complaint that: ‘Unless the Judiciary acts with resolve – now – to repudiate this blatantly unconstitutional Executive Order and the others like it, a dangerous and perhaps irreversible precedent will be set.’

‘Put simply’, the complaint continues, ‘this could be any of us.’

Several associates have publicly resigned from firms that have made deals with the administration, along with Paul Weiss special counsel for pro bono Steven Banks and Willkie senior counsel (and longest-serving lawyer at the firm) Joseph Baio.

While no current partner has resigned from any of the firms in protest, Goodwin partners Neel Chatterjee and David Cross established Law Firm Partners United (LFPU), an informal network for partners at top 200 firms to organise and speak out for the rule of law.

At time of writing, LFPU has nearly 600 members on LinkedIn.

The president’s social media posts announcing the most recent batch of deals closed with a statement attributed to Kirkland chair Jon Ballis, A&O Shearman senior partner Khalid Garousha, Simpson Thacher executive committee chair Alden Millard, and Latham chair and managing partner Richard Trobman.

‘Today, our Firms reached an agreement with President Trump and his Administration, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’, the firms said.

‘We have resolved this matter while upholding long-held principles important to each of our Firms: Equal Employment Opportunity; providing pro bono assistance to a wide range of underserved populations, and ensuring fairness in the Justice System; and representing a broad spectrum of clients on various matters. We look forward to a continued constructive and productive relationship with President Trump and his team.’

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Almost 400 partners join group for Big Law to challenge Trump executive orders

Nearly 400 partners have signed up to Law Firm Partners United (LFPU), a group for partners at top 200 firms to speak out for the rule of law in the face of the Trump administration’s war on big law.

‘The Purpose of this Group is to Bring Together Partners at AMLAW 200 law firms to find ways to express our point of view on the rule of law when our firms choose to lie silent’, LFPU says on its LinkedIn. ‘There is a saying that Democracy dies in silence. The goal of this group is ensure that we protect democracy by not being silent.’

The group was established by two Goodwin partners: Silicon Valley IP partner and former executive committee member Neel Chatterjee, listed as the group’s admin on LinkedIn, and Washington DC antitrust and competition partner and first-chair trial lawyer David Cross.

At the time of going to press, 390 partners have signed on since LFPU was formed on Sunday (6 April), from firms including Latham & Watkins, DLA Piper, Morrison Foerster, Wilson Sonsini, and Paul Hastings.

Partners who join the group act as individuals and do not represent their firms, and the group aims to provide a space for internal discussion as well as to coordinate outward-facing statements and action.

One of the responses the group is considering is filing an amicus brief on the executive orders against law firms, which are currently being challenged in the courts by Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, and Jenner & Block.

Conversely, firms including Paul Weiss, Willkie, Skadden, and Milbank have cut deals with the administration to get the orders rescinded.

Last Friday, Munger, Tolles & Olson and litigation boutique Elmer Stahl filed an amicus brief on behalf of more than 500 firms in Perkins Coie’s suit. Freshfields was the largest international firm to sign the brief, joined also by firms including Covington & Burling, Arnold & Porter, and Crowell & Moring.

The failure of many large firms to lend their support helped prompt the establishment of LFPU.

In a post on LinkedIn, Chatterjee said: ‘I originally set a goal of 100 lawyers. With the encouraging response, I would like to see us reach 500.

‘Please spread the word, and encourage people to join. Our first stop is consideration of filing an amicus brief on some of the EOs targeting law firms. We have not yet decided whether the group wants to do it, but if you want to share your voice, now is the time.’

He concluded: ‘As always, we are acting as individuals and not on behalf of our law firms.’

Cross reshared the post, adding: ‘If you’re a partner at an #AmLaw200 firm, please join us at #LawFirmPartnersUnited. Now is the time for lawyers to individually speak up about the unlawful attacks on our profession and the rule of law. This organization is intended to give a voice to individual partners in #BigLaw in their personal capacity.

‘There are tens of thousands of AmLaw200 partners. Collectively, we can make our voices heard and protect the rule of law — before it’s too late.’

[email protected]

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Meal Deal Maker: LB lunches with top City partners – Clifford Chance’s Melissa Fogarty

In Legal Business’s new Meal Deal Maker series, Melissa Fogarty, co-head of Clifford Chance’s corporate practice, reveals her sandwich of choice from Pret, reflects on what’s shaped her dealmaking over the past two years, and explains how she stays calm on big deals. 

She also shares some of the best ways she’s celebrated a deal closing (karaoke included), and why nothing beats unwinding by cooking a roast dinner for her children.

Check back in for more Meal Deal Maker interviews in the coming weeks – with top dealmakers from Skadden and Freshfields up next – and as always, get in touch* if you’re interested in taking part.

Hungry for more Meal Deal Maker videos? Please check out our previous interviews with Weil’s Tom Richards and Willkie’s Gavin Gordon.

*top dealmakers only

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Howdy Saudi: why Riyadh is now the centre of attention for firms targeting the Middle East

The Middle East has long been an attractive destination for international law firms, but when it comes to expansion plans there’s a clear winner for the hottest place to be right now.

Ever-increasing numbers of UK and US firms have been piling into the lucrative Saudi market, with Pinsent Masons, King & Spalding, Akin and BCLP among the firms announcing Riyadh launches in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

The influx follows Saudi Arabia’s 2023 legal reforms which permitted overseas firms to open offices without a local partner as long as various conditions are met.

These include a minimum of 70% of lawyers needing to be Saudi nationals and 70% of advisory work needing to take place within the Kingdom, with no Saudi legal work outsourced to other countries.  Additionally, at least two partners from each foreign firm are required to reside in Saudi for a minimum of 180 days a year.

Around 15 international firms have already secured licences to operate in Saudi, with many more awaiting approval, all pinning their hopes on securing transactional, disputes or regulatory work as Saudi Arabia accelerates its economic diversification under its ambitious Vision 2030 development plans.

‘The country’s fast-growing economy and abundant investment opportunities across the wider Middle East region make Saudi Arabia an attractive destination for law firms,’ says Stuart Paterson, Middle East managing partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, which launched its Riyadh office in 2023 as one of the first international law firms to obtain a foreign law firm licence.

‘I’d struggle to think of many markets right now that are more dynamic than Saudi’  – Adrian Bell, CMS

Tremendous potential 

‘I’d struggle to think of many markets right now that are more dynamic than Saudi,’ adds Adrian Bell, joint managing director for Asia and the Middle East at CMS.

‘Vision 2030 is shorthand for the wide-reaching reforms happening in the country – social, built environments and legal. The opportunity for law firms to support these changes is massive,’ states Richard Dupay, a partner in BCLP’s Dubai office.

The sheer size and breadth of the Vision 2030 plans means international firms are well placed to secure lucrative mandates.

‘Given the scale of these ambitions, you need top international law firms involved,’ says Salman Al-Sudairi, chair of Latham & Watkins’ Saudi Arabia practice. ‘These firms bring significant global expertise in sectors that are core to Vision 2030, such as sports, tech, healthcare, energy, and financial services.’

‘With all the sporting events, ski resorts, high-end luxury hotels, and massive opportunities in energy and infrastructure, Saudi offers tremendous potential. It’s an entrepreneurial place, and people want to be involved,’ Bell concurs as he discusses the movement of firms into the market.

And it isn’t just transactional work that’s booming. ‘There have also been some notable trends in disputes and litigation,’ points out Paterson. ‘As countries here embark on ambitious infrastructure projects, the complexities have contributed to a growing demand for dispute resolution services.’

‘These progressive legal reforms contribute to the Kingdom’s emergence as a technologically advanced, business-friendly jurisdiction’ – Stuart Paterson,  Herbert Smith Freehills

Former Eversheds Sutherland International CEO Lee Ranson – who is taking up a new Middle East-focus role in Dubai this month after stepping down from his leadership post – points to a broader shift in the global landscape, particularly following the US elections: ‘The world is finding different axes; not always centred around traditional American influence. The region is establishing its own identity, which is attracting investment from diverse markets.’

Saudi Arabia’s legal reforms are helping to accelerate this shift, by making the kingdom more attractive to international investment. ‘One of the main reasons for codifying the law was to create a transparent, predictable regulatory framework to attract foreign investment,’ says Farida Sadiq, partner and head of UAE regulatory practice at BCLP. ‘These progressive legal reforms not only bolster individual rights and privacy but also contribute to the Kingdom’s emergence as a technologically advanced, business-friendly jurisdiction,’ Paterson adds.

Heart of business

Within Saudi, Riyadh is the clear destination of choice for firms wanting to enter the market.  ‘The concentration of power and control in Riyadh is significant, which is why firms are drawn to it,’ says Ranson. ‘Over time, investment may expand to other cities, but initially, businesses focus on where they believe key decision-makers are located.’

Bell agrees, noting: ‘Riyadh has become the capital city for commerce. Most of our clients are based there, and it seems to be the heart of business in the country. Compared to other cities, it has the infrastructure and has developed into that central hub.’

‘The Riyadh office will reflect the myriad opportunities in the surging Saudi Arabian market,’ says Fahad Alarfaj, Riyadh office managing partner at King & Spalding, pointing to: ‘a host of important investment opportunities, especially in equity and debt facilities, both conventional and Shari’ah-compliant.’

Bell points out that some industries, particularly in the energy space, are based outside Riyadh so, over time, firms may add bases elsewhere. ‘Some energy and oil and gas companies, in particular, are located outside of Riyadh, so we may look into opening a smaller, representative office elsewhere as time goes on. We remain open-minded and opportunistic.’

‘Vision 2030 isn’t just about Riyadh – it encompasses the entire nation. So, It’s important not to limit your focus to just Riyadh or Jeddah’ – Farida Sadiq,  BCLP

Sadiq likewise stresses a broader perspective: ‘Vision 2030 isn’t just about Riyadh – it encompasses the entire nation. So, It’s important not to limit your focus to just Riyadh or Jeddah.’

For some firms, Riyadh is becoming not just the heart of their Saudi operations but their Middle Eastern operations more broadly. Latham was one of the first  firms to establish under the regional headquarters initiative. ‘Having this licence has obvious practical advantages, but it also aligns with what we are trying to strategically achieve – approaching the Middle East as one unified operation, rather than having separate operations in different markets,’ Al-Sudairi explains.

At CMS, Bell also highlights Saudi’s growing importance as a headquarters location: ‘Two years ago, most of our growth was in the UAE, but now most of our hiring is in Saudi Arabia. We’ve likely reached a point in the UAE where growth will slow until Saudi catches up.’

Others though are keeping their options open. Alarfaj maintains that expansion in Saudi isn’t coming at the expense of other Middle Eastern offices, such as Dubai or Abu Dhabi. He explains: ‘Riyadh, alongside Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has always been a critical aspect of our wider Middle East presence.’

As the firm continues to grow, some local and regional refinements may be necessary, but their approach remains balanced: ‘the philosophy is not an ‘either-or’ but a ‘two-pronged’ approach,’ he adds.

Independence or not?

Saudi Arabia’s recent legal deregulation has prompted different strategies among international law firms: some are seizing the opportunity to operate independently, while others prefer maintaining local partnerships.

CMS, which had a longstanding relationship with a Saudi firm, saw the deregulation as a turning point to operate independently and open in Riyadh. ‘We saw our move there as a combination of a really exciting market full of opportunities and deregulation that allowed international law firms to operate independently for the first time,’ says Bell.

He adds: ‘Initially, the main challenge we faced was the requirement to have two expat partners spend at least 180 days on the ground in Saudi to get our license.’

For firms like Eversheds Sutherland and King & Spalding, going it alone didn’t align with their commitment to the local market, instead opting to continue operating in the region through joint ventures. ‘Given the nature of the Saudi market, having a strong local presence is crucial for navigating and building connections. Our local partnership has been hugely beneficial, and we see no reason to change it,’ explains Ranson.

‘We are proud of our history and accomplishments in Saudi Arabia. The shifting market dynamics, however, meant we required a larger team on the ground.’ – Fahad Alarfaj, Riyadh office managing partner, King & Spalding

King & Spalding on the other hand, has taken a different approach by merging with local firm Abdulaziz H. Al Fahad & Partners despite being granted both its foreign law firm license and RHQ license: ‘King & Spalding established a presence in Riyadh back in 2007 and we are proud of our history and accomplishments in Saudi Arabia. The shifting market dynamics, however, meant we required a larger team on the ground,’ says Alarfaj, ‘A merger meant we could reach both critical mass and have a full-service team in place in a single agreement.’

BCLP, also opted for a combination approach, fusing with KSA USA to strengthen its presence with plans to open offices in both Riyadh and Al-Khobar later this year. ‘We’re not launching in Saudi; we’re returning,’ says Dupay. ‘Sam Eversman was one of the partners that helped set up Bryan Cave [the US firm which merged with Berwin Leighton Paisner in 2018 to create BCLP] in Saudi in the ’80s, so for him and for us, it feels like a full-circle return.’

Pinsent Masons, after years of partnership with Alsabhan & Alajaji (SJ), has opted to operate independently as Pinsent Masons Saudi Arabia Law Firm LLC, but will continue close collaboration with Alsabhan & Alajaji. ‘Opening as a single entity in Riyadh was the next step in our strategy,’ a spokesperson at the firm says. ‘Even though we’re now operating as a single entity, we will continue to work with SJ on projects where our expertise is complementary.’

Talent wars

The region’s opportunities mean firms are finding it easier to find international talent willing to relocate. ‘I sent an email to my team in London asking if anyone was interested in a secondment to Saudi, expecting just a few responses here and there, says CMS’s Bell. Instead, I got 12 people – ranging from junior to very senior, male and female, single and with families. The variety of responses is a clear indication of how exciting people perceive the market to be.’

‘This is a market that needs top international talent and having more of these firms enter the region is important’ – Salman Al-Sudairi, Latham & Watkins

While international talent may be eager to work in the region, the 70% quota on local lawyers means recruitment competition can be intense. ‘Competition is a good thing, and the arrival of more international firms is elevating the offering for the market. This is a market that needs top international talent and having more of these firms enter the region is important,’ says Al-Sudairi. ‘International law firms need to continue investing in developing local talent – working with local universities to provide more learning opportunities and access to experienced lawyers. We’ve been doing this for a long time, and I hope new entrants into the market continue this approach.’

Sadiq emphasises the role of Saudisation – which aims to create employment opportunities for Saudi nationals – in developing local talent: ‘Saudisation is a great way to develop Saudi’s next generation of top lawyers, giving them a broader understanding of international best practices. We’re excited about the opportunities it creates to bring in and nurture local talent.’

She continues, ‘More and more people, especially women, are going to university both locally and abroad, and there’s definitely a growing interest in pursuing law. While there will always be competition for talent, I don’t think there will be a shortage of local talent eager to join international firms entering the market.’

Dupay adds, ‘Many students and professionals with a Saudi background are rightfully proud of their country’s growth and want to see its success. They’re incredibly excited to work with us, just as we’re excited to work with them.’

Bell highlights the importance of securing young talent. ‘We’re focused on capturing young talent through early-stage recruitment, like sponsoring events at key universities in Riyadh,’ he says, while also acknowledging the challenge of finding experienced local Saudi partners who fit the culture of an international law firm.

Culture is a consideration on both sides: ‘Of course, some people may feel they wouldn’t fit in,’ says Ranson. ‘That could be due to cultural differences, or it might simply be related to the climate – there can be various reasons. Ultimately, we have no shortage of people interested in the opportunities Saudi presents, but it’s not for everyone.’

Dipping toes

For many firms, staying competitive in Saudi Arabia means aligning with the priorities of Vision 2030. ‘It’s not about being full-service, but matching market demand with the expertise we have,’ says Bell. ‘Staying competitive means concentrating on areas of Vision 2030 where the firm has distinct strengths, including construction disputes, sports law, tourism, and renewable energy.’

Dupay adds, ‘They’re building a whole new nation with well-publicised giga-projects, new power plants and desalination plants, critical infrastructure including roads, rail, and expanding and building new airports. This aligns with what our firm has always supported – the built environment.’

Lee Ranson

‘There will certainly be ups and downs, with some firms doing well and others less so, but overall, my outlook on the market and the region remains very favorable,’ – Lee Ranson, Eversheds Sutherland

With ongoing development, opportunities for law firms are plentiful. As projects shift from the planning to delivery phase, Ranson highlights the growing need for legal services.  ‘My long-term view is a positive one regarding market development. There will certainly be ups and downs, with some firms doing well and others less so, but overall, my outlook on the market and the region remains very favourable.’

Bell, however, predicts that the market will begin to level off: ‘Right now, many firms are just dipping their toes in the water, but without a certain level of commitment, I believe we’ll see market consolidation. There will likely be a slowdown in new entrants, and I suspect some firms will leave Saudi in the next three to five years.’

‘Sometimes, there’s an unrealistic expectation that firms will automatically get business just because they are well-known elsewhere. You have to be patient – developing a reputation takes time,’ says Al-Sudairi. ‘There’s a large influx of firms right now, and in some ways it’s similar to the UAE 15-20 years ago. Those that were patient and committed for the long run have done well, others have retrenched over the years. It takes a clear vision, hard work, and commitment,’ he concludes

Firms with Saudi foreign law licences as of March 2025

Pinsent Masons
Herbert Smith Freehills
Baker Mckenzie
Latham & Watkins
Clifford Chance AS&H (50:50 joint venture)
Dentons
King & Spalding
Squire Patton Boggs
Kirkland & Ellis
Clyde & Co
Addleshaw Goddard
Greenberg Traurig
Quinn Emmanuel
A&O Shearman
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
White & Case
Norton Rose Fulbright
CMS
Ashurst

Firms with regional headquarters licences as of March 2025

King & Spalding
CMS
Baker McKenzie
Greenberg Traurig
Clyde & Co
Latham & Watkins
Kirkland & Ellis
White & Case

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US firms in rude health as Simpson Thacher, Gibson Dunn, Paul Hastings and others enjoy double-digit hikes

A clutch of US firms have recorded double-digit financial growth for 2024 after a strong 12 months for the Stateside elite now reckoning with the upheaval of President Trump’s return to office.

While the impact of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, executive orders against major firms and crackdown on diversity policies have made for a bumpy start to 2025, the financial results for 2024 to have emerged so far present a much more positive picture.

Simpson Thacher was among the firms that saw both revenue and PEP rise by double digits, according to reporting from law.com, with revenue rising 24% to $2.9bn and profit per equity partner surging 19% to $7.66m.

The New York-headquartered firm built out its leveraged finance bench in London last year, hiring Legal 500 acquisition finance next-generation partner Dan Peach from Linklaters in November and leveraged finance partners Bryan Robson and William Gwyn from Sidley Austin in December, with the latter co-head of Sidley’s leveraged finance practice.

Major matters handled by the firm during 2024 included acting for KKR on its establishment of a joint venture with T-Mobile for the $4.9bn acquisition of Metronet, as well as advising Blackstone on its $1.7bn bid for Japanese digital comics company Infocom.

The US firm also recently opened an office in Luxembourg with a trio of hires from A&O Shearman and Clifford Chance.

Meanwhile, Gibson Dunn generated $3.6bn in revenue in 2024, up nearly 16% on 2023’s figure, while PEP soared by more than 28% to $7.2m.

An active 2024 saw the firm add London laterals including restructuring partner Lisa Stevens from Freshfields in January, former Linklaters leveraged finance co-head David Irvine in April, private equity partner Will Summers from White & Case in September, and M&A partner Will McDonald from Jones Day at the end of the year. 

New London office heads Rob Carr and Osma Hudda, who were installed at the beginning of the year, told LB they plan to continue to grow the firm’s litigation and transactional practices in the City.

Elsewhere, Paul Hastings has seen its top line rise to $2.2bn, up 23% from last year, while PEP hit $6.7m in an increase of nearly 25%.

The firm continued to grow in 2025, hiring White & Case infrastructure partners George Kazakov and Din Eshanov last month, with Eshanov brought in to co-head the firm’s new office in Abu Dhabi.

It also added three significant laterals from Weil last year, with Shawn Kodes joining the New York office as co-chair of asset-backed finance in April, and banking and finance partner Reena Gogna and structured finance specialist Brian Maher joining in London in June and August respectively.

Among other US firms, Perkins Coie saw more modest revenue growth, with its top line rising 4% to approximately $1.26bn, with PEP up by 16% to $1.9m.

The Seattle-based firm also generated around $830,000 (£650,000) in revenue from its London office during the year, according to law.com reporting. The base opened in May 2024 with the eye-catching hire of former White & Case private equity chief Ian Bagshaw, who returned to law as Perkins Coie’s London managing partner after leaving White & Case in 2021.

More recently, the firm has found itself at the centre of the Trump administration’s escalating battle with big law, opting to litigate to fight the 6 March executive order issued against it rather than cutting a deal with the president as firms including Paul Weiss and Skadden have done.

The firm’s legal fight against the executive order has received the support of over 500 firms, including Freshfields, who signed onto a legal brief in support of the action last week.

Elsewhere, Orrick saw an increase of nearly 9% in revenue to $1.59bn, while PEP jumped nearly 17% to $3.63m.

The San Francisco-bred firm hired the former head of legacy Shearman & Sterling’s Italian M&A practice, Fabio Fauceglia, in May last year. Fauceglia joined with a team of six lawyers including of counsel Leonardo Pinta and five associates. The head of legacy Kramer Levin’s life sciences practice Irena Royzman also joined the firm’s New York office last April, several months before Kramer announced its plans to combine with Herbert Smith Freehills.

Finally, Chicago-bred Mayer Brown saw revenue nudge up by just under 4% to hit $1.98bn, with PEP up over 14% to $2.8m.

In London, the firm hired tax partner Sam Riesenberg from KPMG’s Washington National Tax practice last April, and corporate and securities partner Ross Montgomery from Dechert in November.

It also shuttered its Mexico City office at the end of October, ending a nine-year presence in the city.

With US firms averaging a 6.5% increase in billing rates last year according to the Thomson Reuters Institute’s 2025 Report on the State of the US Legal Market, the fastest acceleration since the global financial crisis, the healthy figures are perhaps no surprise.

Thomson Reuters data also show the average US law firm experienced a 2.6% increase in demand last year. A figure that, when placed against the average increase of 0.1% in annual demand growth from 2007 to 2023, also helps to explain why 2024 was such a strong year for the legal sector.

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