Kaye Scholer makes first London internal partner promotion

Kaye Scholer has made up its first partner in London since opening in the City in 2002.

Corporate and finance counsel David Rivera, who joined from Sullivan & Cromwell four years ago, has made partner in a round that saw seven promoted across the firm's offices.

Rivera's promotion brings the number of partners in London to six, which, according to partner Timothy Spangler, shows how the office has matured over the past few years.

"We went from being one partner to having five in the past 18 months," he said. "Like any law firm, laterals are important to us, but one great measure of the strength of any firm will be its ability to progress and promote internally. David is a good indicator that, unlike a number of firms, we do strive to promote internally as well as bringing in partners laterally."

Rivera is qualified in both the US and England and focuses on mainstream corporate finance, particularly M&A, private equity and capital markets.

Five of the current round of promotions were made in Kaye Scholer's New York office, with another in Los Angeles. Last year it made up three partners across all offices.