Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has promoted 19 lawyers to the partnership as it gears up for its merger with US firm Kramer Levin to go live in June.

The total is significantly reduced from 2024’s 27-strong partner promotion round and is in keeping with other firms also having announced reduced partner classes this year, including Eversheds Sutherland and Taylor Wessing. 

HSF promoted 32 partners in 2023 and 34 – its largest partner class on record – in 2022. 

Most new partners (eight) hail from Australia, with three promoted in Melbourne and Sydney, and one apiece in Brisbane and Perth. 

Five of the 19 partners are located in London, with three promotions occurring in Paris, one in Frankfurt and one in Brussels. There is also a promotion in the firm’s small New York office. The appointments will take effect in May 2025.

The firm did not provide a diversity breakdown of those promoted, but nine of the individuals elevated are women, compared to 14 in 2024 and 15 in 2023. 

In announcing this year’s reduced promotion round, the firm noted that it had hired 23 lateral partners in the current financial year. Among them was a trio of lawyers recruited in November to launch its Luxembourg office, which opened in February, while in January it hired a 10-lawyer team from Orrick led by three partners. 

Last week, the partnerships at HSF and Kramer Levin voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the merger to create a firm with revenue of more than $2bn, and 2,700 lawyers including around 630 partners based across 26 offices. 

However, Kramer Levin’s Paris office was not part of the deal, with Morgan Lewis absorbing a 54-strong team in Paris in December. At the same time, a four-partner disputes group moved to Hogan Lovells in Washington DC. 

Global CEO Justin D’Agostino welcomed “our new cohort of exceptionally talented lawyers into the partnership”, adding: “As we embrace an exciting future as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, our new partners enable us to build on our strengths and add depth to our global offering and client relationships.” 

Chair and senior partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage added: “Our new partners demonstrate our ongoing commitment to invest in and promote exceptional talent. A key priority for the firm is to ensure [that] we provide our lawyers with opportunities to develop and progress. The new partners each play an important role in helping to shape our success as a firm.” 

The new partners

Australia

• Emily Coghlan, Melbourne – Digital Legal and Legal Technology
• Michael D'Agostino, Melbourne – Projects
• Gabby Herron-Cartwright, Brisbane – Energy and Infrastructure
• Tamanna Islam, Sydney – Financial Services Regulation
• Geoff Kerrigan, Perth – M&A and Mining
• Madeleine Miller, Melbourne – M&A
• Eunice Park, Sydney – Commercial Litigation and Investigations
• Li-Lian Yeo, Sydney – M&A, Private Equity and Restructuring, Turnaround & Insolvency

UK

• Eliza Eaton, London – Energy
• Krishna Shorewala, London – Funds and Asset Management
• Charlotte Whight, London – Energy and Infrastructure
• Joe Williams, London – Competition Disputes and Economic Regulation
• Shaun Williamson, London – M&A and Mining

Continental Europe

• Thomas Herman, Paris – Energy and Infrastructure
• Hannes Jacobi, Frankfurt – Energy, Infrastructure and Real Estate Finance
• Rémi Jouaneton, Paris – Corporate Crime & Investigations
• Nicolas Pol, Paris – Commercial Litigation and Insurance
• Camille Puech-Baron, Brussels – Competition, Regulation and Trade

US       

• Maxwell Herman, New York – Product Liability and Complex Torts