Bird & Bird has made up 10 lawyers to its partnership, more than double the number that made the grade last year.
Of the 10, one partner has been made up in London. Dispute resolution specialist Jonathan Speed is the sole new City partner.
The remainder are in Bird & Bird’s offices in Rome, Milan, Helsinki, Paris, Warsaw, Munich and The Hague.
Last year Bird & Bird promoted just four lawyers to its partnership, although these did follow the promotion of two lawyers during the year. In 2008 the firm made up 14 lawyers.
Bird & Bird’s chief executive David Kerr (pictured) said the appointments were evidence of “the significant strength of the firm and its delivery on our long-term strategy of investing in our people, the firm and delivering the best service to our clients”.
Kerr added that the increase in the number of partners was a reflection of the confidence clients had that business was picking up again, although he warned the next 12 months were likely to remain tough.
The new partners are:
Banking and finance
Stefano Febbi, Milan
Danilo Quattrocchi, Rome
EU and competition
Katia Duncker, Helsinki
Dispute resolution
Eggo Jan Rietema, The Hague
Jonathan Speed, London
Commercial/IT
Roelien van Neck, The Hague
Maciej Gawronski, Warsaw
IP/patents
Friedrich Emmerling, Munich
Manon Rieger-Jansen, The Hague
Restructuring
Bertrand Biette, Paris