Clifford Chance has promoted 24 lawyers to its partnership, including nine in London in its largest City promotions round in several years.
The firm also promoted nine lawyers in Continental Europe, three in Asia and three in the US.
A quarter (six) of the new partners are women – a slightly higher proportion than rival Linklaters, which also promoted 24 lawyers to its partnership this week.
In 2015 Clifford Chance made up 27 new partners with six in London. That was the firm’s largest promotions round since 2012. In 2014 the firm promoted seven in the UK, making this year’s intake of nine London partners the largest for some time.
The firm’s finance and corporate practices have gained the most new partners this year, with eight promotions in each. There were also three promotions in capital markets. Tax, pensions and employment and litigation both received two partners and there was one promotion in real estate.
All three new Asian partners are finance lawyers, as well as two of the three made up in New York.
Europe gains the most corporate specialists with five out of the eight new corporate partners based in Clifford Chance’s Continental offices.
The majority of the UK-based partners trained at Clifford Chance, although corporate lawyer Katherine Moir joined the firm from Macfarlanes in January 2011 and finance specialist Michael Pearson moved from CMS Cameron McKenna in August 2008. Christopher Yates also joined the firm after his training contract.
Managing partner Matthew Layton said the promotions recognised “talent, commitment and entrepreneurialism”.
He added: “Each of these new partners has already made their mark: by virtue of the quality of their expertise and service delivery, they are seen as ‘go-to’ advisors by their clients; they are role models for our teams; and they play a critical part in delivering the firm’s strategy.”
The promotions will take effect from 1 May 2016 and will bring the total number of partners in the firm to 577.
The promotions in full
Americas
- Jake Farquharson – capital markets, New York
- Patrick O’Reilly – finance, New York
- Daniel Winick – finance, New York
Asia Pacific
- Yusuke Abe – finance, Tokyo
- Timothy Democratis – finance, Beijing
- Edith Leung – finance, Hong Kong
Continental Europe
- Luis Alonso – corporate, Madrid
- Guillermo Guardia – corporate, Barcelona
- Niek De Pauw – corporate, Brussels
- Marianne Pezant – corporate, Paris
- Ioana Talnaru – corporate, Bucharest
- Miloš Felgr – finance, Prague
- Fabian Böhm – real estate, Frankfurt
- Floris van de Bult – tax, pensions & employment, Amsterdam
- Alexandre Ooms – tax, pensions & employment, Brussels
London
- Paul Deakins – capital markets
- Louise Keary – capital markets
- Alexandra Davidson – corporate
- Katherine Moir – corporate
- Christopher Sullivan – corporate
- Andrew Husdan – finance
- Michael Pearson – finance
- Michael Lyons – litigation
- Christopher Yates – litigation