Macfarlanes has promoted nine lawyers to partner in its latest round, the largest for the leading City independent since 2019.  

The round – three up on last year – saw two promoted in the firm’s flagship corporate and M&A practice alongside two in the private client team. There was also a promotion apiece across finance, competition, tax, real estate and litigation. 

The latest promotions will take Macfarlanes’ partnership to just under 100. Six of this year’s cohort are women, the highest proportion since the firm unveiled a new set of diversity targets in 2022 that include the aim to achieve a 35% female and at least a 10% ethnic minority partnership by 2030, with an interim target of at least 30% female partners and 7% ethnic minority partners by 2026. A spokesperson said the firm was on track to meet its targets. 

The round follows Macfarlanes reporting double-digit revenue and profit growth in 2024 after dips the year before, fuelled by a strong performance across transactions and disputes and a “significant” uptick in demand for its private client and tax practices. Turnover jumped nearly 14% to just over £309m, while operating profit increased 23% to £174m and profit per equity partner rose nearly 24% to £2.6m – a figure that compares favourably with the UK Magic Circle firms that publish their numbers.  

The firm made a rare lateral hire into its partnership last October when it tapped Freshfields for private capital specialist Victoria Hills. Hills joined with a mandate to develop Macfarlane’s private equity real assets team, an area senior partner Sebastian Prichard Jones identified as a strategic focus for the firm. 

Commenting on the latest promotions, Prichard Jones said the cohort’s expertise “spans a mix of practice areas, reflecting the diverse strengths of our firm and the opportunities we see across the market”.

He added: “Promoting new partners is a key part of our firm’s growth, and I’m delighted to welcome this year’s cohort to the partnership.”

This cohort includes Pinar Celebi (finance) Iskra Doukova (private client), Caja Griesenbach (competition), Greg James (corporate and M&A), Sarah Ling (tax and reward), Sindhuja Shriananda (real estate), Mark Stichbury (private client), Alice Temkin (corporate and M&A) and Jacob Ward (litigation and dispute resolution).