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
Simpson Thacher strengthens London Regulatory team with Freshfields Partner hire
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has expanded its London financial services team with a Funds Regulatory Partner hire from Freshfields. Emma Rachmaninov will join the firm’s European Funds practice in London, where she will Co-Head its European financial services and funds regulatory team.
US firm Katten adds third Partner to new London Finance practice
US firm Katten has completed a three-Partner raid on Crowell & Moring’s London Finance practice, hiring structured products and derivatives Partner Charles Wakiwaka. Wakiwaka becomes the latest addition to Katten’s newly launched structured products and derivatives practice, following the arrival of Partners Jennifer Kafcas and Alvino van Schalkwyk last month.
Irwin Mitchell appoints Laura Weir as Partner in Cardiff Medical Negligence team
Irwin Mitchell has strengthened its market leading medical negligence practice with the appointment of Laura Weir as a Partner in its Cardiff office. Laura joins the firm from Lanyon Bowdler with extensive experience in complex clinical negligence claims, particularly those arising from failures in maternity care.
TLT hires Employment Partner Scott Milligan
TLT LLP has expanded its Employment practice with the appointment of Partner Scott Milligan in Glasgow. Scott joins TLT from Harper Macleod, where he oversaw a period of significant growth for the employment team.
Gibson Dunn announced that Richard Surtees will join the firm’s London office as a Partner in its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. Richard joins from Eversheds Sutherland.
Nerys Thomas joins Knights’ Private Client Team in Bristol
Knights has appointed Nerys Thomas as Partner. Nerys is an expert across all aspects of Private Client law and advises on tax, trusts and succession planning. Bringing a decade of post-qualification experience gained across Bristol, Cardiff and the West Midlands. Nerys joins from Michelmores, where she was Partner.
Rachael Massingham has joined Spencer West as a Commercial Real Estate Partner
Rachael Massingham has joined Spencer West as a Commercial Real Estate Partner. She is an experienced solicitor who has acted on a wide range of real estate matters, Rachael also advises on the acquisition and disposal of development land and SIPP/SSAS pension property investments. Rachel joins from Radius Law, where she worked as a Real Estate Consultant. Rachael is based in Canterbury.
Keystone Law hires Corporate and Venture Capital Partner
Keystone Law has hired Corporate and Venture Capital Partner Susanna Stanfield. Susanna joins from YPOG, where she worked as Partner. Susanna is based in Cambridge.
gunnercooke hires Fernando Martins to its Disputes practice in London
Fernando is a dual-qualified disputes lawyer, admitted in England and Wales and Brazil, with more than 15 years’ experience advising clients on international arbitration, commercial litigation, and cross-border disputes. Fernando joins from Clyde & Co.
Gleiss Lutz Partner Relocation
Gleiss Lutz partner Björn Ebert is relocating from Stuttgart to London to launch the German firm’s Disputes practice in the UK capital.
Europe
Dentons strengthens Prague Corporate/M&A practice with the arrival of Partner Jan Stejskal
Global law firm Dentons has strengthened its Corporate and M&A practice in Prague with the arrival of partner Jan Stejskal. Jan joins from Perkins Coie.
Team
Fieldfisher Poland strengthens Corporate and M&A practice
Fieldfisher Poland strengthens Corporate and M&A practice with the hire of Sylwia Kuca and four-lawyer team. The arrival of the five experienced corporate and transactional lawyers expands their capabilities in M&A, corporate reorganisations, retail and franchising.
Promotions & Appointments
Ashurst Perkins Coie appoints four Managing Partners across Middle East offices after merger
Stuart James has been named Managing Partner of the firm’s Abu Dhabi office, joining Cameron Cuffe (Dubai), Faisal Baassiri (Jeddah), and Martyn Rogers (Riyadh) in leading the firm’s regional offices.
Ashurst Perkins Coie appoints Head of Region, Middle East & Africa
Ashurst Perkins Coie appoints David Charlier as Head of Region, Middle East & Africa. David is based in Dubai.
Sheridans promotes Alex Harvey to Partner
Alex Harvey has been appointed to Partner in Sheridans’ Sports & Entertainment practice. Alex is based in London.
Walkers announces 20 promotions in Ireland
Walkers has announced 20 promotions across its legal and professional services businesses in Ireland. The promotions come during a landmark year for the firm, as it celebrates 25 years in Europe and marks 10 years of Walkers Professional Services (WPS) in Ireland.
Taylor Wessing promotes three to Salary Partners
For the second round of appointments of the year, Taylor Wessing will have two lawyers and one lawyer from the fields of Media law, Insolvency and Employment law.
Beauchamps LLP has appointed three new Partners and one Of Counsel
Beauchamps LLP has appointed three new Partners and one Of Counsel, further strengthening the firm’s capabilities in Corporate, Commercial Real Estate and Private Client.
K&L Gates appoints new Europe boss
London-based Structured Finance Partner Sean Crosky has been appointed as K&L Gates’ new regional Managing Partner for Europe. Crosky, who has worked at K&L Gates for 14 years since joining as a partner from Norton Rose Fulbright, has also joined the firm’s management committee. Sean is based in London.
Firm and Market Activity
Office Openings & Closings
Pavia e Ansaldo inaugurates its new office in Turin
Pavia e Ansaldo has announced the opening of the new Turin office, located in Via San Quintino 14, inside the historic building Società Acque Potabili di Torino in the heart of the city, confirming its commitment to oversee a strategic territory for the national entrepreneurial fabric. The new headquarters, which replaces the offices in Corso Luigi Einaudi 18, represents a further step in the growth path of the Firm and stems from the need to have more functional and representative spaces, in line with the consolidation of Pavia and Ansaldo’s presence in the area.
Financial Results
Eversheds Sutherland Partner profits soar in record hiring year
Eversheds Sutherland has reported strong financial results for 2025/26, with revenue rising 8% to £827 million and PEP climbing 14% to £1.6 million. Net profit also saw a double-digit increase of 13% to £209 million. The results mark a decade of what the firm described as “sustained and consistent growth” in which revenue has doubled and profit has increased by 150%.
UK law firm TLT posts 11% revenue growth to break £200m revenue barrier
UK law firm TLT saw revenue growth accelerate to 11% in the 2025/26 financial year, hitting a record £208m. Net profit also rose by 11% to £27.3m, with profit per equity partner rising by 5.7% to £635,000. Revenue has doubled over the past five years, TLT noted, with the latest results outpacing the 7.5% revenue increase recorded in the 12 months to the end of March 2025.
HFW revenue inches up 2% to £270m against 6% dip in PEP
HFW has posted what it described as a “measured” set of results for the year ended 31 March 2026, growing revenue 2% to £276.2m against a 5.9% dip in net profit to £72.6m.
Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) also declined by 6% to £779k over the year – the fourth in HFW’s current growth strategy – while revenue per lawyer (RPL) inched up 1.4% to £471k, marking its seventh consecutive year of growth.
A&O Shearman Partners see pay climb to £2.2 million as revenue stalls
A&O Shearman Partners are taking home an average of ($2.9 million) £2.2 million despite broadly flat revenue, as profits return to pre-merger levels. In its second full year since being created through the 2024 merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling, the international giant’s latest results show revenue edging down to £2.8 billion from £2.9 billion the year before, a slight fall in sterling, though flat in dollar terms at $3.7 billion. Pre-tax profits, however, rose 14% to $1.6 billion (£1.2 billion), with Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) up 12%.
Fieldfisher Partner pay dips below £1m as revenue rises
Fieldfisher’s average Partner pay slipped below the £1 million mark in 2025/26 despite another year of revenue growth, as the firm continued to invest in its European platform. Profit per Equity Partner fell 3% to £975,000, while revenue increased 4% to £398 million. Fieldfisher first broke the £1 million PEP barrier in 2022 when average Partner pay jumped from £860,000 to £1.05 million. The figure has hovered around the £1 million mark since.
Market Commentary
K&L Gates Cuts 10% of Its Staff
K&L Gates has cut roughly 10% of their staff, the firm confirmed Thursday, with cuts coming about one year after global Managing Partner Stacy Ackermann and management committee Co-Chair Rick Giovannelli ascended to their current leadership roles.
Freshfields culls Partners after pay overhaul
Freshfields has forced out Partners and downgraded the equity share of others after a shake-up of pay at the “magic circle” law firm in an effort to drive growth. The UK-based firm has culled Equity Partners in recent weeks, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The cuts come after the firm overhauled its remuneration structure late last year, which had led to dozens of its roughly 500 partners being handed fewer equity points, the people said.
‘Needlessly filed’ partnership agreement made private in Clifford Chance’s $5.8m clawback dispute
Clifford Chance has successfully removed most of its partnership agreements from the public court record after arguing their disclosure exposed commercially sensitive information about the firm’s compensation system and internal partnership arrangements. The agreements were made public after former New York partners Clifford Cone and Michael Sabin filed them as part of a lawsuit challenging the firm’s attempt to recover almost $5.8 million in profit distributions following their move to Sidley Austin in January.
Cormac Gilroy joins EY Law Ireland
EY Law Ireland has appointed Cormac Gilroy as a Director to lead its newly established banking and finance practice. Cormac join from Evara, where he was Legal Counsel. Cormac is based in Cork.
Cravath’s EMEA Capital Markets Co-Head to Retire
Philip Boeckman, Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s Capital Markets Co-Head for EMEA, is set to retire from the firm. Boeckman originally joined the Manhattan M&A powerhouse in the U.S. after finishing university. He then became a partner in 1998 and relocated to London from the New York office in 2000.
Clifford Chance sees further US exits as Insurance Co-Heads join Simpson Thacher
Clifford Chance has lost two more Senior Partners from its US practice after Simpson Thacher announced the hire of New York-based Dennis Manfredi and Joseph Cosentino, co-heads of the firm’s US Insurance practice. The pair are joined by Benjamin Kralstein, who will arrive from Mayer Brown.