Top 20 UK law firms Bird & Bird and Addleshaw Goddard have unveiled their partner promotions.

Tech-focused Bird & Bird has promoted 17 lawyers to partner – up from 13 in 2024 – while the intake at Addleshaws has fallen sharply to 15 from last year’s record tally of 26.

Bird & Bird’s 450-strong IP practice welcomed seven new partners, including London duo James Pearson and Louise Sargeant. Four got the nod in the corporate practice and two apiece in the dispute resolution and commercial teams, with the final promotions going to employment lawyer Benjamin Karcher in Düsseldorf and Csongor Tompa in the finance and financial regulation practice in Budapest.

All but one of the partner promotions went to lawyers based in the UK and continental Europe. Unlike last year when London gained the most new partners, this time that distinction went to Germany, where six mostly IP lawyers were promoted across Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich.

London welcomed five, with Stockholm, Paris, Madrid, Budapest and The Hague gaining one each. The final promotion went to corporate finance lawyer Julie Giouw in Singapore.

At Addleshaws, meanwhile, 10 of its 15 promotions are in the UK, with three making the grade in continental Europe and two in the Middle East.

All four of its core practice groups welcomed new partners, although the bulk of the promotions were in corporate and commercial and finance and projects (six apiece).

The real estate practice accounted for two new partners – Elizabeth Cape in Leeds and Frances Proctor in Manchester – while Madrid-based counsel José Carlos Fraga was the sole dispute lawyer made up.

Fraga was a member of King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM’s) Spanish arm, which joined Addleshaws last May to form its new Spanish office as a result of KWM’s agreement with Eversheds Sutherland to close its European offices after striking an exclusive alliance with the transatlantic firm.

That deal reflected Addleshaws’ ongoing plan to grow its European footprint, which sees it take on Linklaters’ 80-strong Warsaw office, including nine partners, from 1 May, allowing it to expand into Poland.

Commenting on the partner intake, managing partner Andrew Johnston said: “This diverse group of new partners represents the very best of Addleshaw Goddard – exceptionally talented individuals, committed to our culture of inclusive ambition and to delivering high-quality outcomes for our clients globally. Our promotions and lateral hires underline our commitment to attracting, developing and retaining the highest quality people across all our markets.”

Last August, Addleshaws pointed to strong growth across its international network when it posted a 12% increase in revenue to £495.6m against a 14% rise in total profit.

That edged its revenue a little closer to Bird & Bird’s turnover, which grew by more than 10% to £545m – its 32nd consecutive year of growth. Profits per equity partner also grew by a little over 8% to around £704k, off the back of work including its successful representation of supermarket retailer Lidl in its long-running trademark battle with Tesco over the use of its Clubcard logo.

The Bird & Bird partner promotions include five women, or 29% of the total. At Addleshaws, seven of the new partners are women, 47% of the total.