Asia gets the cold shoulder despite Lovells' partner promotions hitting a three-year high
Lovells has elected 18 new partners this year in its biggest round of promotions for three years.
It is also the first time that the firm's six Asian offices in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo all missed out on new partners.
Three IP associates made the grade, with two in London and one in Paris. Associates in the IP department at Lovells have traditionally fared better than their colleagues, with at least two each year making partner since 2003. The promotions included Stephen Bennett in the London office. Bennett often worked alongside former Lovells patent litigator Nicola Dagg, who left last month to join Allen & Overy.
Although the firm ignored Asia this round, global head of IP Burkhardt Goebel said Lovells has a "commitment to promote new talent and to further grow our leading IP practice in Europe and Asia".
The firm's Continental Europe offices benefited the most from the promotions, with eight new partners made up compared with seven in London and three in the US. All three of the US promotions are litigators.
Overall associate promotions broke down as five in corporate; five in disputes; five in commerce and real estate; and three in finance.
