Globally, our site showcases 54 lawyers as partners in its 2022 class.
In a significant move, global law firm XYZ has announced the promotion of 54 lawyers to partner and director positions, effective January 1, 2022, in various locations worldwide. The promotions cover 11 global practice areas, with a notable focus on increasing women's representation.
Promotions Across Practice Areas
The promotions span across several practice areas, including:
- Litigation and Disputes: Blake Redwine (Dallas), Rafe Schaefer (Houston), Joseph Drapalski (Los Angeles), James Lockwood (London), Nathan Baum (Dallas), Denton Nichols (Houston), Geraldine Young (Houston), Gerry Pecht (Houston), Paul Cartwright (Johannesburg), and Annabelle Wheeler (Munich/London).
- Corporate, M&A and Securities: Jared Kaplan (New York), Alberta Yan (New York), Rachel Chan (Hong Kong), Nicolas Sirtoli (London), and Bernd Dreier (Munich).
- Banking and Finance: Veit Sahlfeld (Hamburg) and Dimitri Millas (Houston).
- Intellectual Property: Darren Smith (Houston) and Eric Green (Austin).
- Employment and Labor: Kimberly Cheeseman (Houston) and Claudia Posluschny (Munich).
- Tax: Justin Coddington (Houston).
- Real Estate: Louisa Roe (London).
- Projects: Rebecca Abou-Chedid (Washington, D.C.) and Laura Kiwelu (London).
- Antitrust and Competition: Helen Fairhead (London).
- Bankruptcy, Financial Restructuring and Insolvency: Rebecca Winthrop (Los Angeles).
- Information Governance, Privacy and Cybersecurity: Anna Rudawski (New York).
Emphasis on Women's Representation
The promotions reflect ongoing efforts to increase women's representation, though detailed statistics on the proportion of women promoted vary by firm and region. In this round of promotions, 23 of the 54 promoted lawyers are women, representing 43% of the total.
Practice Area Focus
The practice areas attracting new partners generally include complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, technology, investigations, compliance, and transactional work such as venture capital and corporate finance.
Some firms, such as Jenner & Block, when announcing their partner promotions for 2022, emphasize their commitment to diversity and inclusion, reflecting an increased focus on promoting women and other underrepresented groups to partnership.
Leading firms in specific practice areas, like IP litigation and venture capital, commonly rank highly in prestigious directories, and their partners gain recognition for excellence, which correlates with where promotions occur. For instance, Cooley has a strong presence in venture capital and European IPOs, with many partners recognized as leading lawyers.
While specific quantitative data on the percentage of women promoted to partner globally in 2022 is not directly available in the current search results, it is clear that firms continue to promote across a broad spectrum of high-value practices with an increasing emphasis on diversity and representation.
For more precise firm-by-firm or region-specific gender promotion statistics for 2022, industry reports such as the NALP Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms or specific firm diversity disclosures would be recommended sources beyond the current dataset.
In addition, promotions were also made in Canada, South Africa, and Australia. Marianne McMahon was promoted to the general counsel position in London, and in Canada, Robin Acworth, Veronique Barry, Scott Boucher, Brian Chau, Matthew Choi, Jenna Anne de Jong, Russell Dufault, Alison FitzGerald, Caroline Jodoin, Jonathan Lafrance, Brigitte LeBlanc-Lapointe, Jennifer McPherson, Brian Milne, Fahad Siddiqui, Joshua Sprague, Nikita Stepin, Tim Stewart received promotions in various practice areas across Calgary, Quebec, Vancouver, and Ottawa. In South Africa, lawyers receive promotions to director instead of partner. In Australia, Kate Green, Harriet Oldmeadow, and Nick Sinclair received promotions in litigation and disputes, banking and finance respectively, in Sydney and Perth.
Global Chief Executive of XYZ, Gerry Pecht, praised the promoted lawyers for their industry knowledge, business acumen, and innovative solutions.
The promotions at XYZ have expanded the banking and finance practice area with the inclusion of Dimitri Millas (Houston) and Veit Sahlfeld (Hamburg).
The emphasis on women's representation in promotions can be observed in the 23 women, including Kimberly Cheeseman (Houston) and Marianne McMahon, who have been promoted to partner and director positions, making up 43% of the total.
