Gibson Dunn promotes 11 but London misses out

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has become the latest US firm to announce its partner promotions ahead of the new financial year, making up 11 associates, four more than last year.

None of the lawyers are based in its growing London office although, like last year, one of the new partners was Paris based. The London office contributed £17.5m to the firm’s £426.3m turnover last year and has grown considerably through lateral hires, most recently taking on capital markets partner Dorothee Fischer-Appelt from Allen & Overy at the beginning of November to boost partner headcount to 13.

The 24-lawyer Paris was the only international office to enjoy a new partner, in the shape of M&A expert Sophie Resplandy-Bernard.

Despite the firm’s biggest office being Los Angeles, its Washington DC office benefited most from the promotions, netting four new partners.

By practice area, M&A and competition were the teams to benefit most firmwide, with three new partners a piece.

The 11 new partners can now enjoy an average profit per partner of $1.6m (£830,000). They will hold full equity status despite Gibson Dunn recently deciding to introduce a salaried tier to its partnership.

The salaried partnership will be limited to lateral hires rather than those rising through the ranks. Until the tier is introduced in the coming months, Gibson Dunn remains one of the few full equity partnerships.