Latham & Watkins ups London partner promotions in increased global round

Corporate associates Robbie McLaren and Farah O’Brien are being promoted from the start of next year, with McLaren joining from McGrigors in 2007 and O’Brien starting out her career at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. 

Meanwhile, former Gilbert & Tobin associate Adrian Chiodo and Greenberg Trauring Maher associate Helena Potts have been made up in Latham & Watkins’ finance department. 

Last year, Latham made up just one partner in London in one of the lowest UK promotions round at the firm for some years, with the number of partner promotions globally also lower at 19. 

However, this year London has matched matches Latham’s Washington DC office in terms of promotion numbers, with the firm’s New York base coming out top with five partner appointments. There has also been a significant increase in the number of females being promoted, rising from three in 2014 to 12 this year. 

The remaining 12 associates have been made up to partner across Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Silicon Valley, while Milan’s Giovanni Sandicchi is the only partner promotion in Europe. 

In addition to partner promotions, Latham has also made up 30 associates to counsel. Four City-based lawyers have been promoted, namely corporate associates Shatha Ali, Benedict Nwaeke, environment associate Michael Green and finance associate Anthony Kay. 

Other areas to have benefited from the firm’s counsel promotions include Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Moscow and Tokyo. 

White & Case recently announced thier partner promotions, making up eight in London. However, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and McDermott Will & Emery focused the majority of its appointments on the US.