Leadership news

Khalid Garousha, Allen & Overy

A&O Shearman: New leaders announced

Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling have elected new leadership for the firm, ahead of the merger’s completion in May. A&O’s Khalid Garousha, who has been serving as managing partner since Gareth Price’s exit last summer, has been voted in as senior partner. He was formerly its regional head of the Middle East and […]

Linklaters

Linklaters’ managing partner: “Lockstep is not an issue anymore”

Linklaters’ global managing partner Paul Lewis has reiterated his firm’s desire to grow significantly in the US and hinted there is now no ceiling to the level it is prepared to pay for lateral hires. Lewis’s comments, which are likely to have recruitment consultants salivating on both sides of the Atlantic, appear in this month’s […]

DLA Piper elects new managing partner

Corporate partner Charles Severs has been elected DLA Piper’s next managing partner. Severs joined the firm in 2003 from Herbert Smith Freehills and has since taken on positions including head of corporate and managing director for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. His appointment will be effective on 1 January 2025. Severs will take over […]

Dentons launches search for new boss as global CEO announces departure

Dentons is to hire a search consultancy to find a replacement for global CEO Elliott Portnoy, who this week announced his intention to stand down in November 2024. Speaking to The Lawyer, Portnoy said: ‘I don’t think the CEO has to be a lawyer, but a professional services experience is essential – and experience of […]

allen & overy

A&O Shearman: Eight partners enter race to lead firm

Voting for the top leadership positions at the newly-merged A&O Shearman will take place next year, it has been announced. The elections process has been revealed ahead of the end of terms next April for both A&O’s senior partner Wim Dejonghe and interim managing partner Khalid Garousha, who stepped in for Gareth Price. As a […]

Steve Cooke Slaughter and May

Slaughters’ chief lines up post-leadership role

The senior partner of Slaughter and May is set to move to Brunswick when his term ends next year. Steve Cooke will join the advisory group in May 2023 as a partner. At Brunswick, Cooke will advise clients in the UK and globally on a range of matters including M&A, crisis, disputes and litigation. The […]

Addleshaws crowns first non-UK managing partner

Addleshaw Goddard partners have voted for the firm’s Middle East head to take over from managing partner John Joyce next year.  MENA region head Andrew Johnson will step up to the role on 1 May 2024. Based in the UAE, Johnston has spent 10 years at the firm after two years as a partner at […]

Winston zeroes in on London with new leadership role

Winston & Strawn is targeting significant growth outside of the US, with its new leadership team – for the first time ever – now including a lawyer tasked specifically with non-US expansion. In September, Winston confirmed that current chair Tom Fitzgerald would be stepping down next year and will be replaced by litigation group co-head […]

Stephen Goldie

Brodies ushers in new leadership team

Brodies has appointed a new managing partner, as the Scottish firm gets ready to kick off its next three-year strategy. Head of litigation Stephen Goldie will succeed Nick Scott on 1 May 2024, which is when Scott’s second term of office and when the firm’s current strategic cycle both come to an end. A real […]

London firms need more non-London leaders

For a growing number of firms, the route to profitable growth means becoming increasingly international. While law’s titans hunt for profits in the US, several mid-tier firms are busy bulking up across Europe, the Middle East and South-East Asia. This is particularly true for firms with a passion for private wealth lawyers where competition for […]

Peter Jackson and Craig Scott from Hill Dickinson

Hill Dickinson’s longstanding leader passes baton to new CEO

Hill Dickinson has appointed a new chief executive officer (CEO), as Peter Jackson steps down after a nearly two-decade reign. A marine and transport specialist, Jackson joined Hill Dickinson in 1983 and was made managing partner in 2005 before switching to CEO in 2016. He will be stepping down at the end of the current […]

Travers votes in new senior partner

The head of corporate M&A at Travers Smith has claimed victory in the firm’s senior partner election. Andrew Gillen has won the firm’s elections after what was understood to be a two-partner race against acting senior partner Siân Keall.  Keall took on the senior partner role in May this year after Kathleen Russ stood down […]