Kirkland & Ellis has made up 13 City lawyers in its annual promotions round, more than double the number appointed last year.

The firm announced the promotion of 97 worldwide compared with 81 in 2016.

Last year Kirkland promoted six lawyers in London as part of a global promotions round – the first time the firm also made up partners in its two-year old Houston office.

Kirkland promoted three London lawyers to partner in its M&A and private equity groups this year, while two were made up in investment funds. Tax saw two new joiners, while litigation, arbitration, capital markets and debt finance all welcomed one new partner.

Chicago saw the greatest number of newly-promoted lawyers, with a total of 25 promotions. New York was a close second after making up 24 new partners, while London announced the third largest partner contingent across the entire firm.

San Francisco and Washington DC saw 18 promotions between them,  while Los Angeles and Houston both welcomed five new lawyers. There are six new partners in Hong Kong and one in Palo Alto.

Beijing, Boston, Munich and Shanghai are the only offices that have not promoted any new partners this year.

With a total of 13 promotions announced in London, this year’s partnership round is the largest ever for Kirkland in London. The minimum number of partners made up in the City in any given year has been three (in 2009 and 2011), while 2010 saw nine associates promoted.

As of last year, 25 of the associates made partner in London in the last six years had remained at the firm out of 40.

This year, just two of the 13 promoted in the City trained at Kirkland – Philipp Kurek and Aranpreet Randhawa. Women account for just two of the London cohort, equivalent to 16 per cent.

London promotions

Andrew Butel, government, regulatory and internal investigations litigation
Mark Ingram, tax
Philipp Kurek, litigation
Jeremy Leggate, investment funds
Frazer Money, tax
Jon Newman, arbitration
Aranpreet Randhawa, investment funds
James Simpson, capital markets
Adam Skinner, financial services regulatory
Mark Thompson, M&A
Jacob Traff, M&A
Rebecca Villarreal, M&A
Christopher Wall, debt finance