Welcome to this week’s update, where we bring you the latest moves, promotions, and strategic appointments shaping the legal industry.
Partner Moves
Individual
UK & Ireland
A&L Goodbody LLP (ALG) has appointed Elena Canavan-Young as a new Partner in its Asset Management & Investment Funds practice. Elena joins from William Fry.
Dentons appoints Real Estate Partner Diarmuid Mawe in Dublin
Diarmuid is an experienced real estate lawyer whose clients are both domestic and international businesses, including developers and institutional investors operating in sectors such as retail, logistics, offices and residential. Diarmuid joins from Maples Group, where he was Partner and Head of Property.
Keystone Law welcomes 8 new Partners to its practice
Keystone Law welcomes Employment Partner Gearalt Fahy (Leeds), Corporate Partner Tanya Shillingford (London), Commercial Property Partners Emma Cracknell (UK-based) and Oliver Ray (UK-based), Marine Partner Hannah Cash (who joined a week earlier), Family Partners Laura Hughes (London) and Elizabeth Simos (London), and Commercial Partner Ben Hargraves (France-based). Gearalt Fahy joins from Womble Bond Dickinson. Tanya Shillingford joins from RWK Goodman. Emma Cracknell and Oliver Ray join from Barker Gotelee Solicitors. Laura Hughes joins from Penningtons Manches Cooper. Elizabeth Simos joins from Ketley Miller Joels. Ben Hargraves joins from Neot. Aside from Elizabeth Simos and Ben Hargraves, who were promotion upon moving, all hires were previously Partners at their respective firms.
Charles Russell Speechlys appoints Corporate and Private Equity specialist in London
Charles Russell Speechlys is pleased to announce the appointment of Nadim Meer as Partner in the Corporate team. Nadim joins the Firm from Mishcon de Reya, where he was Corporate Partner and Head of Private Equity.
Alston & Bird Expands Global Capabilities with First Tax Partner in London
Satvi Vepa joins the Am Law 50 firm with a practice that focuses on the tax aspects of domestic and cross-border financing transactions. Satvi joins from Simmons & Simmons.
Europe
White & Case hires Chairman of Mercer Solar at GoldenPeaks Capital
Michał Piekarski is set to join the Warsaw office as a Local Partner. Michał is a member of the EMEA Energy, Infrastructure, Project and Asset Finance regional section, focusing on complex energy projects, transactions and regulatory matters.
Middle East
Philipp Korotin has UCL Law Firm as Partner and Head of the M&A Practice
Philipp specialises in Cross-border M&A/Joint Ventures & Corporate Governance, Legal Strategy & Risk Management and Foundation & Private Wealth. Philipp joins from VEON, where he was a Special M&A Counsel. He is based in Dubai.
Team
Latham hires three-Partner City Corporate team from Morrison Foerster
Latham & Watkins has boosted its London M&A and Private Equity practice with the hire of a three-Partner team from Morrison Foerster, including Office Head Andrew Boyd. The team includes MoFo’s Co-Head of European M&A, Gary Brown, as well as Luke Rowland, who joined the partnership in January.
Promotions & Appointments
Gilson Gray strengthens senior team with new Partner promotions
Gilson Gray has promoted two senior lawyers to Partner, strengthening its Real Estate and Litigation offering. Real Estate specialist Gregor Duthie (Glasgow) and Litigator Stephen Forsyth (Dundee) have both stepped up from Legal Director to Partner.
DWF announces 15 promotions in Scotland
DWF has announced 15 promotions across its Edinburgh and Glasgow offices.
Four new Partners among raft of promotions after record year at Digby Brown
Digby Brown Solicitors has confirmed four lawyers are to be appointed Partner following a year of record-breaking growth.
Garrigues locks in Managing Partner Until 2032 Amid Aggressive Latin America Push
Spain’s leading law firm Garrigues has extended executive chairman Fernando Vives’s mandate to 2032 as the firm drives record growth and expansion across Latin America.
Cleary Gottlieb Elevates Digital Regulatory Expert Amaryllis Müller to Partner
Cleary Gottlieb announced today the promotion of Amaryllis Müller to Partner in its market-leading Competition practice. Amaryllis is based in Brussels.
Aislinn O’Shea promoted to Partner at Mason Hayes & Curran
Mason Hayes & Curran has announced the promotion of Aislinn O’Shea to Partner in the Ireland-based firm’s Healthcare team.
Firm and Market Activity
Office Openings & Closings
Stephenson Harwood returns to Madrid with new office opening
The new Madrid offering is set to become full-service, but will focus initially on Private Capital and Funds, and Energy Transition and Infrastructure. The office is the firm’s fourth in Europe, with other locations in London, Paris, Athens, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Expanding Transatlantic Reach, Clark Hill Launches French Desk
Clark Hill has launched a French Desk to serve clients from French-speaking locations such as France, Belgium and Quebec, Canada, and to expand the international reach of the firm, which has offices in Dublin and Mexico City.
Mergers & Alliances
Private equity-backed HF acquires Rosling King
HF (Horwich Farrelly) has swooped to acquire the stricken firm Rosling King, which recently filed for administration. Around 40 Rosling King partners and staff will join the insurance and commercial-focused HF.
BBS Law and Carter Bond unite as Orwins
BBS Law and Carter Bond have rebranded as Orwins, bringing two firms together under a single identity and signalling a new chapter in the business’s national ambitions.
Financial Results
US 50 in London 2026: Financial Results
The May Transatlantic report is part two of The Lawyer’s US 50 2026. It focuses on the financial performance of the largest US-headquartered firms in the UK. Along with a raft of data points, it includes an individual profile of each of the 50 firms that summarises their financial performance, strategic focus and key mandates.
Market Commentary
Platform firms are pulling in more lawyers from major firms, report finds
More than 5,000 lawyers now work at UK platform firms, with the model increasingly attracting lawyers from established firms, according to a new report. The analysis from legal analytics company Codex Edge found the sector continued to grow rapidly in 2025, with firms including Setfords, Keystone, Taylor Rose, Gunnercooke and AI-powered newcomer Lawhive driving much of the expansion.
“We are no longer full-service:” Howard Kennedy narrows focus in strategy overhaul
City mid-sizer Howard Kennedy is to concentrate on ‘seven specialisms’ in the future after conducting a major review of its strategy. The changes will see the London Bridge-based outfit refocus its efforts on key areas after years of holding itself out as a full-service firm, an approach that managing partner James Stewart told The Lawyer its clients no longer responded to in the same way.
US firms dominate high-value litigation in London, research shows
US firms are dominating high-value litigation in London despite only handling a relatively small number of claims, according to litigation data from Solomonic. Median claim value for US firms was around £10m in 2025, compared to £740,000 for other firms – a 13x gap, Solomonic data show. That is despite handling only 4% of claims between 2020 and 2025, and just 2.7% in 2025.
A&O Shearman co-opts two women onto global board
A&O Shearman has added a Partner pair to its board, completing a two-stage process that left some members “disappointed” with the lack of gender diversity after the first round. Singapore-based Pallavi Gopinath Aney joins the board along with Austin Managing Partner Emily Westridge Black. Gopinath Aney is a Capital Markets lawyer, who Co-Leads the firm’s India group. Westridge Black meanwhile is also A&O Shearman’s Chemicals sector Lead.
Gowling WLG launches Real Estate training contract
Gowling WLG has become the latest major law firm to launch a training contract geared toward aspiring lawyers seeking to qualify in a specific practice area. The international law firm has unveiled a new two-year route to qualification as a real estate specialist that will run alongside its standard training contract pathway, seeing trainees complete four six-month seats within its real estate group.
CMS appoints Christy Farrer as first Chief Operating Officer
Christy Farrer has been appointed as the first Chief Operating Officer of CMS UK. In this newly created role, Ms Farrer will lead the firm’s operational strategy across its international offices.
Clydes to slash jobs as part of back-office restructuring
Clyde & Co is kickstarting a redundancy consultation with its business services teams in the latest move to overhaul its shared services structure. The consultation is understood to be limited to business services roles including IT and legal support, with fee-earners not impacted at present.
Innovation & Culture
Technology & Innovation
Kirkland to splash half a billion on AI build-out
Kirkland & Ellis is set to pour half a billion dollars into building its own artificial intelligence platform over the next few years. The world’s highest-grossing law firm expects to spend more than $100m on the initiative this year, with total investment forecast to exceed $500m over the next several years. The platform is intended to embed the firm’s institutional knowledge directly into legal delivery to support matters.
Litigation AI startup founded by former City lawyer raises $2.5m
A litigation AI startup co-founded by a former City lawyer has raised a $2.5 million seed round as it expands into the US market. London-based Crimson was founded by former litigator Mark Feldner, whose background includes stints at Clifford Chance and Willkie, alongside two AI engineers. The company announced the funding alongside the launch of a New York office.
Legora plans Tokyo and Singapore office openings to drive APAC expansion
Swedish legaltech firm Legora is opening two new offices in Tokyo and Singapore to roll out its expansion in the APAC region, adding to its Sydney office which opened last year.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
New judicial diversity board launches amid concerns over talent pipeline
A new Judicial and Legal Diversity Board has been launched to improve diversity across judicial appointments in England and Wales. The board brings together senior figures from the judiciary, government and legal profession as concerns persist over representation and the strength of the judicial talent pipeline. The board is Co-Chaired by the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill and Lord Chancellor David Lammy MP.