Freshfields halves City promotions in 20-strong global round
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has added 20 lawyers to its partnership, with the number of City associates promoted nearly halved since last year’s round.
Will Lawes
The magic circle firm has made up five London lawyers to partner, with one making the grade in corporate, one in dispute resolution and three in finance.
The total number of promotions is flat on last year, when nine London lawyers were made up in a 20-strong round (4 March 2011).
The number of corporate associates made up in the UK is slightly down on last year, when seven were promoted in the practice area globally, including two in London. Finance is up from two to three in the City.
The 2012 list shows an increase in non-UK promotions, with 15 made up outside London, compared with 11 last year. Of the 15, four are based in Hong Kong, two in New York and one in Dubai with the remainder spread across Europe.
Senior partner Will Lawes said: ‘We’re very excited to have another talented group from a wide range of offices joining the partnership. We’re sure that they’ll all help us drive forward the business of the firm for years to come.”
The new partners are:
Corporate
Doug Bacon (New York)
Charles Ching (Hong Kong)
Edward Freeman (Hong Kong)
Michael Hilton (Dubai)
Tobias Larisch (Düsseldorf)
Yannick Piette (Paris)
Farid Sigari-Majd (Vienna)
Doug Smith (London)
Patrick Tardivy (Paris)
IP/IT
Mark Parsons (Hong Kong)
Dispute Resolution
Matthew Bruce (London)
Georgia Dawson (Hong Kong)
Gabrielle Gould (New York)
Martina de Lind van Wijngaarden (Frankfurt)
Finance
Ryan Beckwith (London)
Mario Hüther (Frankfurt)
Mandeep Lotay (Amsterdam)
Geoff O’Dea (London)
Michael Steele (London)
Tax
Vincent Daniel-Mayeur (Paris)
Readers' comments (10)
Anon | 28-Mar-2012 12:26 pm
So five promotions in London. Which has over 100 trainees per year. And inevitably some of those promoted will have trained elsewhere.
This business model will collapse in on itself before much longer unless associate hours start falling considerably.
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Anonymous | 28-Mar-2012 1:50 pm
I agree, the hours v pay in the magic circle is ridiculous, but I dont think the business model will collapse (nor will any radical changes be made) any time soon. Thats just life in a big City firm, its ALL about partnership.
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Vercinegtorix | 28-Mar-2012 2:55 pm
@Anon
How many of the 100 trainees per year are still around at the right time to be even considered for partnership?
20 at most I'd reckon.
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Anonymous | 29-Mar-2012 1:30 am
The market is such that the 7-10 pqe lawyers don't have the options you might think... staying put on 200k isn't such a bad option.
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lawpo | 29-Mar-2012 2:25 pm
hello there have so nice and excellent blog i really like it and you have very important review for new york business lawyers i am so impressed thanks for your posting thanks..
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Anonymous | 29-Mar-2012 3:35 pm
Since when where 7yr PQE lawyers on 200k? more like 115k + 10% bonus.....
For sums like that, no wonder 100k for an US NQ sounds so appealing
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Anon | 29-Mar-2012 4:17 pm
The "City law firm" model is collapsing under the weight of its own greed and short-termism.
Chinese law firms are far more likely to dominate the global market in the future than the likes of Freshfields. Their domestic market will shortly be multiples larger, and they are far more focused on market share than the interests of a greedy few at top.
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anonymous23 | 29-Mar-2012 9:02 pm
@anon:
The key reason why city law firms and US law firms are dominating the international legal services market is that English law and New York law are the 'currency' of international transactions. Due to linguistic, cultural and political reasons I don't think that PRC law is ever going to have the same importance. Or what do you think?
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Anonymous | 30-Mar-2012 0:47 am
115k for 7 years PQE is a bit crap really when you consider the hours and tedium involved. Glad I don't work at Freshfields.
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Anonymous | 2-Apr-2012 2:18 pm
It is likely that some of the lawyers promoted overseas worked in the London office before being shipped abroad on a promise of partnership.
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