Internal promotions

Laterals

Intake as percentage of partnership 2005-06: 8

New female partners as percentage of intake 2005-06: 14

Firms recruited from: Addleshaw Goddard, Lovells, McGrigors, Nabarro Nathanson, Jones Day

Equity structure: 51 equity partners, 41 non-equity partners

Practice area(s) most heavily promoted: Corporate

The emphasis at Osborne Clarke is on internal promotions. Over three years it has made up 10 internal candidates compared with six externals. Interestingly, four of the six laterals were hired in 2005-06, which may herald a new desire to recruit externally. Otherwise, Osborne Clarke has promoted at least three internal candidates every year.
Corporate does best, with a total of eight partners out of 16 and a steady throughput (at least one a year) over the past three years. Banking, on the other hand, has seen no internal or lateral partner appointments in the period.
Employment and property assistants have good internal prospects. Two have been made up over the past three years in each practice area, and there have been no laterals.
The only area where external candidates have been more numerous than internals i s commercial (two compared with one). In Germany, meanwhile, the bias is towards external recruitment: it has hired three laterals in the past three years and made up two internally.