Simmons & Simmons’ international head of dispute resolution, Emily Monastiriotis, has been elected as its next managing partner.  

Monastiriotis, who sits on the firm’s international executive committee, will take up the role in May, succeeding Jeremy Hoyland, who has held the position since 2011.

A vastly experienced, widely recognised lawyer, Monastiriotis has held several senior leadership roles at Simmons since she joined in 2017 from legacy firm Bond Dickinson (now Womble Bond Dickinson), where she was head of construction disputes.

She succeeded Paul Baker as UK head of disputes in 2021, following his decision to join Quinn Emanuel, and a year later took over from Hans-Herman Aldendorff as global head of disputes, a role he had held for more than 10 years.

Disputes is one of Simmons’ core offerings, notable practitioners being head of arbitration Stuart Dutson, former London Solicitors Litigation Association president Ed Crosse, and experienced commercial litigator Patrick Boylan.

Monastiriotis is a specialist in construction disputes and a market-leading expert on fire safety cases, dealing with the associated insurance aspects of construction and engineering disputes.

She has acted for architects, engineers and quantity surveyors regarding delays, associated costs, final accounts, fees and defective works. She also advises on construction arbitration cases, including in the UAE.

Beyond her expertise in dispute resolution, Monastiriotis has successfully spearheaded several initiatives to leverage technology to enhance legal practice, while enthusiastically embracing the firm’s development and adoption of AI. She is also the partner lead for the firm’s mentoring scheme.

Senior partner Julian Taylor said: “Emily is a highly effective, forward-thinking and inspiring leader who will bring a wealth of experience to the role of managing partner. I look forward to working with her to build on the firm’s successes and seize future opportunities.”

Monastiriotis said: “It’s a privilege to have been elected to this role by the partnership. Simmons has a strong sector-led, international growth foundation thanks to [Hoyland’s] remarkable leadership.”

According to Legal Business, Monastiriotis was selected from a shortlist of practice heads, including London-based rivals, Mahrie Webb, head of financial markets, who joined in 2014; Alexander Brown, head of TMT, who joined in 1997; and Darren Oswick, head of tax, who qualified with the firm in 2001. 

Last July, Simmons reported a 10% increase in revenue to £574m while profits, which inched up 2% the year before, grew 8% to £204m. Profit per equity partner rose 7% to £1.076m.

In January, Simmons hired Sarah Smith, DLA Piper’s UK competition head, to lead its UK competition and antitrust practice.