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
Kirkland hires Paul Weiss Corporate Partner in London
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison’s head of European M&A is leaving for Kirkland & Ellis after less than three years. Will Aitken-Davies joins Kirkland as a Corporate Partner in London.
London boutique Three Points Law hires AI legaltech co-founder and former KPMG Law Partner
London-based boutique Three Points Law has hired former KPMG Law Partner Usman Wahid to bolster its tech-driven offering.
Cleary Gottlieb Continues London Growth with Strategic Funds Partner Hire
David Christmas will join the firm’s London office on May 5 as a partner in its Global Funds practice. David joins from Fried Frank.
Eversheds Sutherland expands insurance team with London partner hire
Eversheds Sutherland has expanded its insurance team with the appointment of Helen Hallam as a partner in the firm’s London office. Helen joins the firm from Canada Life Limited, where she spent more than eight years in senior in-house roles.
Irwin Mitchell has appointed Rosanne Tweddle as a Partner, based in the firm’s Aske office in North Yorkshire, further strengthening its specialist expertise in rural and agricultural property matters. Rosanne joins Irwin Mitchell from Womble Bond Dickinson.
Europe
BSVA Studio Legale Associato announces the arrival of Silvia Martina as Partner, as part of the strengthening of its white-collar criminal law and compliance practice. Silvia joins from Studio Legale Cagnola & Associati in Milan.
Middle East
Ashurst grows Project & Energy Transition offering with Abu Dhabi Partner hire
Ashurst announces the appointment of energy and infrastructure lawyer Anne Wicks as Partner in the Projects & Energy Transition practice based in Abu Dhabi. Anne joins from Mayer Brown’s Dubai office.
Team
Paul Hastings hires Covington PE real estate team in London
Paul Hastings is set to hire a senior private equity and real estate team in London from Covington & Burling. The team is led by Lyndsey Laverack and Jade Williams-Adedeji.
Reed Smith recruits Corporate team from Dentons in Germany
Munich-based Partners Thomas Strassner, Christopher Mayston and Richard Fagerer bring a broad transactional practice with particular strength in defence and life sciences.
Akin gains restructuring trio from Weil
A restructuring team of three Partners from Weil Gotshal & Manges is heading back to Akin’s London office. Lois Deasey, Neil Devaney and Matt Benson are making the move across the city to their former firm.
Gibson Dunn raids Clifford Chance for seven-strong funds team in Paris
An investment funds team from Clifford Chance has left for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in Paris, marking the latter’s latest move in its European expansion. The team is led by Partner Xavier Comaills. Along with him, Partners Marie Préat, Elodie Cinconze, and Pierre Goyat will join.
Promotions & Appointments
Gowling WLG makes up five in promotion round
The firm has promoted five lawyers to Partner in Birmingham, Dubai and Frankfurt, with a clear focus on corporate and real estate. This matches the number of promotions in 2025.
Clifford Chance promotes 28 to partner in US-heavy round
Clifford Chance has promoted 28 lawyers to Partner in its latest global promotions round, including six in the US and nine in London. The cohort is in line with the past few rounds, around 30 partners, and includes nine women – 32% of the total and again in line with previous years.
Bird & Bird promotes 37 in its annual global promotion round
Bird & Bird has appointed 19 to Partner, 3 to Senior Counsel, 20 to Counsel and 5 to Legal Director in its annual global promotion round. All effective from May 2026. This is down from 61 total in 2025.
Simmons & Simmons announces Partner promotions for 2026
Simmons & Simmons has announced the promotion of nine individuals to the firm’s global partnership equalling the number of promotions in 2025. Women make up 56% of the group up from 44% in 2025.
A&O Shearman Appoints Inaugural EU Chair to Deepen European Presence
A&O Shearman has appointed its first ever EU chair, Tom Schoors, as its seeks to more seamlessly connect its U.S., U.K., the Middle East and Asia Pacific clients with its European lawyers.
Hengeler Mueller Appoints Next Leaders
Jens Wenzel and Sebastian Schneider will become the firm’s co-managing Partners, succeeding Thomas Müller and Bernd Wirbel, whose terms will end after four years.
Hogan Lovells appoints Renato Antonini as Brussels Office Managing Partner
Hogan Lovells has appointed partner Renato Antonini as Office Managing Partner for its Brussels office, effective 1 May 2026, succeeding Christopher Thomas.
Marc Mehlen appointed as Managing Partner of Luxembourg office at Clifford Chance
Marc will oversee the implementation of Clifford Chance’s global strategy in Luxembourg and further strengthen relationships with clients locally and internationally.
Taylor Wessing Strengthens product liability practice with appointment of Jamie Humphreys as Partner
Jamie Humphreys joins as a Partner in the Disputes & Investigations team in London. Jamie was previously Special Counsel at Cooley.
Firm and Market Activity
Office Openings & Closings
Gibson Dunn Expands European Transactional Platform With New Madrid Office
The office is led by Partner Armando Albarrán, widely regarded as one of Spain’s preeminent Corporate lawyers. He is joined by Of Counsel Alfonso Bernar, Asís Martín de Cabiedes, and Reka Palla and Associates Alberto Broseta and Mario Pacini.
Tech-focused UK boutique ClearCube Law formally launches
UK technology-focused boutique ClearCube Law has formally launched following the firm’s four founding Partners all completing transitions from their previous roles. The London-based firm was founded in September 2025 by Alison Berryman and Matt Cunningham, with Anna Ward and Juliet Nutland joining later, ahead of the official launch.
Harneys relocates London office to The Broadgate Tower
Harneys has announced the relocation of its London office to larger premises in The Broadgate Tower, in the City of London.
Mergers & Alliances
Browne Jacobson joins forces with Davidson McDonnell to enter Northern Ireland
UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson is set to join forces with Davidson McDonnell, one of Northern Ireland’s most active law firms. The firms have exchanged contracts, with completion remaining subject to external approvals.
Law Firms Including Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader Form Global Legal Tech Alliance
Hogan Lovells announced Wednesday that they joined more than 15 other global law firms in forming a Global Legal Tech Alliance, an initiative intended to promote collaboration and technology development.
Financial Results
Mayer Brown London revenue jumps 20% to $268m in bumper year
Mayer Brown’s London office has reported record revenue of $268.2 million for 2025, marking a 20.5% increase on the previous year. The growth forms part of a broader period of investment across the firm, aimed at strengthening collaboration between offices in Europe and the US.
Market Commentary
DLA Piper votes to ditch verein structure as it targets market share gains
DLA Piper Partners have voted to dissolve the firm’s verein structure, moving to a more unified global model. To take effect on 1 May, the new corporate structure will see the model replaced with a global LLP that sits above the existing US and international entities, which are legally divided into two LLPs under the current structure.
Former City law boss launches legal strategy firm
Neville Eisenber, former boss of legacy City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, has launched a consultancy (ClarityX Advisory) to advise law firms and investors on strategy and private capital investment.
Big Law begins UAE office return as ceasefire continues
International law firms in the UAE are moving to bring lawyers back to the office, raising concerns among some who relocated from the region during the current conflict.
Innovation & Culture
Technology & Innovation
Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May to roll out Harvey AI platform firmwide
UK Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May has adopted Harvey’s AI platform, the latest global law firm to start scaling up Harvey’s tech more broadly. Harvey said the platform will be used to support the firm’s lawyers in areas including M&A, due diligence, regulatory research and document analysis.
LexisNexis-owner RELX agrees to acquire French legal AI platform Doctrine
LexisNexis parent company RELX Group has entered into an agreement to acquire French legal AI platform Doctrine. The proposed takeover would expand LexisNexis’s legal AI offering in France and other key European markets including Germany, Spain and Italy.
Chip giant Nvidia bets on legal AI with Legora investment
The investment comes via NVentures, Nvidia’s venture arm, and forms part of an extension to Legora’s $550 million Series D announced in March, taking the total round to $600 million and valuing the legal AI startup at $5.6 billion.
Microsoft shakes up legal tech with contract review agent
Microsoft has made a major move into legal tech territory with the launch of a contract review “Legal Agent” built directly into Word. The new feature allows lawyers to review, edit and negotiate contracts inside Word using structured workflows, including clause-by-clause analysis against internal playbooks, automated redlining and citation-backed suggestions.