McDemott Will & Schulte has elevated 36 lawyers to partner in its latest promotions round, a more than 50% drop on 2025’s bumper class.
The promotions, effective from January 2027, also include four counsel appointments, compared with 13 last year. The combined class of 40 is down from 87 last year, which included 74 partner promotions.
New York remained the largest beneficiary, with 13 new partners – down from 34 in 2025 – accounting for 36% of partner promotions compared to 46% last year.
London gained three new partners – commercial litigator Harry Denlegh-Maxwell, finance lawyer Giulia Venanzoni and private equity and M&A lawyer Zoe Woodhouse. That is a slight increase on last year’s two City appointments.
“This is a fantastic moment for us across the firm, but we are particularly proud of the team in London,” said London managing partner Aymen Mahmoud, who said the trio were “outstanding lawyers and trusted advisers, but also wonderful colleagues who contribute enormously” to the firm’s culture.
He added that the promotions reflected “both the strength of our platform and the exceptional talent coming through our ranks”, and that “the energy, ambition and calibre of talent in London are extraordinary and our standards have been exceptionally high”. Those promotions, however, were tempered slightly by the departure of London restructuring partner Sunay Radia, who left this month to join Katten Muchin Rosenman.
Elsewhere, Washington DC added five new partners, down from six a year ago; Chicago and Miami added four each, down from five each last year. Boston fell to two from four, while Los Angeles remained at two partner promotions and Dallas dropped to one from three.
Frankfurt and Munich each gained one partner, matching last year. Paris and Milan, which previously gained four and two, respectively, had no partner promotions. The partner class spanned 10 cities in three countries, rising to 13 cities and four countries when the counsel total was included.
Some 19 new partners were promoted in transactional practice groups, compared to 37 last year, with their share of the whole rising to 53% from 50%, underscoring the emphasis on private equity, investment funds and M&A.
Litigation promotions fell to eight from 15 partners, tax to three from five, employment to two from three, and health and life sciences to one from four. Private client remained at two. No separate IP partner promotions were made this year.
Women accounted for half of this year’s combined partner and counsel promotions, up from 31% last year, when 27 of the 87 promoted lawyers were women. However, the total number of women promoted fell to 20.
Chairman Ira Coleman said: “We are proud to recognise their accomplishments and are excited to see how they will continue to shape the future of our firm.”
Global transactions head Harris Siskind added: “Together, these lawyers extend the firm’s ability to advise clients across the full investment lifecycle, from fund formation through acquisition and exit.”
The reduced promotions follow a bumper round last year in the wake of the August 2025 merger between McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel, and follows a busy period of lateral hires and departures, including arrivals in Frankfurt from Linklaters and in London from Brown Rudnick, as Law Over Borders author Jessica Lee joined the firm.
The full list of partner promotions is as follows:
Employment
Alexander Randolph, Los Angeles
Melis Solaksubasi, Chicago
Health and life sciences
Emily Curran, Washington DC
Litigation
Harry Denlegh-Maxwell, London
Kyle Hendrix, Washington DC
Patrick Kennedy, New York
Jennifer Levengood, New York
Becca Meyer, New York
Rachel Peltzer, Washington DC
Cameron Rabon, Washington DC
Cris Ray, New York
Halle Strongin, New York
Private client
CJ Armstrong, Los Angeles
Margaret Kamm, Chicago
Tax
Lauren Exnicios, New York
John Karasek, Boston
Maximilian Meyer, Frankfurt
Transactions
Joshua Benaroya, New York
Adam Birnbaum, Miami
Ryan Forman, Miami
Caitlin Harrington, Chicago
Kelly Holloway, New York
Jake Jumbeck, Chicago
Robert Krieger, Miami
Marina Leary, Washington DC
Brian Long, Dallas
Adam Perlman, New York
Alexandra Prato, Munich
Natalie Rowles, New York
Marc Sana, New York
Matthew Stern, New York
Steven Szanzer, New York
Giulia Venanzoni, London
Michael Willey, Boston
Zoe Woodhouse, London
Jenna Young, Miami
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