Ashurst promotes 14 to counsel position

Ashurst has promoted 14 associates to the position of counsel, the first lawyers to hold the title since the top 10 firm announced the creation of the role in February.

Ashurst announced the promotions internally this afternoon (3 August), with the firm's London headquarters gaining the most counsel, with 10.

But the firm's international network, which now contributes around 30 per cent of firmwide turnover, also did well. The Paris office netted three counsel, while Milan scored one. It is understood that promotions for the German offices are still to be firmed up.

Managing partner Simon Bromwich said: "These appointments form an important part of our lawyer career structure framework, recognising a number of outstanding senior practitioners."

The counsel promotions are in addition to the 20 made up to partner in April.

Ashurst revamped its associate career path in February, introducing the position of counsel as an alternative or added step to partnership across its entire international network. It also has plans to phase out the PQE associate lockstep to replace it with a performance-based system. The firm already assess its associates and their pay based on merit and not seniority.

The complete list of new counsel is as follows:

Chris Taylor, London
Michael J Smith, London
Jonathan Hoare, London
Mark Race, London
Jo Senior, London
Brian Murphy, London
Sara Watson, London
Gordon Stewart, London
Marie-Elena Angulo, London
Glynn Barwick, London
Emanuella Agostinelli, Milan
Sophie Nicolas, Paris
Marie-Aline Michel, Paris
Julien Bacus, Paris