Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has made up 42 lawyers to partner in a record promotions round.
The top-five US firm, which brought in revenue of $3.6bn in 2024, said the round reflected “continued growth driven by expanding client demand across key markets and practices”.
The cohort includes 11 London promotions, the largest ever figure for that office and significantly up on the previous five rounds when at most three got the nod in the City and in two years none at all.
The swollen London ranks of this cohort have pushed up the proportion of international promotions to 40% – significantly exceeding prior years. It comes amid a concerted effort by the firm to expand its London office, which has grown from 84 lawyers in 2020 to 218 currently, including 49 partners. The office, the firm’s largest outside the US, grew revenue from $205m to $238m in 2024.
Global chair and managing partner Barbara Becker is set to return to London for an extended stay early next year following a two-month relocation this spring to oversee expansion across private equity, M&A, infrastructure, finance, bankruptcy and restructuring and real estate.
Those practices were reflected in the latest London promotions, which included PE specialist Michael Skouras and M&A lawyer Osvaldo Galeano, as well as a trio of lawyers in the antitrust and competition practice.
The London M&A practice was also boosted in October with the hire of partner Simon Tysoe – a mainstay of Latham’s London energy practice for many years. Though going the other way, Anna Howell, the former co-lead of the firm’s oil and gas practice, left for Orrick in September.
Meanwhile, the 35 US promotions this time included six in Washington DC, four in the firm’s Los Angeles headquarters and three apiece in New York and Houston. There were also two each in Dallas, Palo Alto and Orange County.
The six remaining international promotions were split between Brussels, Paris, Munich, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“Each member of this incredibly talented group of lawyers does remarkable work on behalf of our clients and makes extraordinary contributions to our firm’s community,” said Becker. “We are thrilled to welcome them to our partnership.”
By practice, the firm’s litigation department gained the most new partners, with eight, and there were also two promotions in the transnational litigation practice and one each in the environmental litigation and mass tort and securities litigation teams.
There were also six promotions in the antitrust and competition team and four each in the real estate and appellate and constitutional law teams, as well as two apiece across finance, private equity, transportation and space, and business restructuring and reorganisation.
The promotions are effective on 1 January 2026. A full list of the promotions can be found here.
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