Top 40 US firm Squire Patton Boggs has made up 26 to partner in its latest global promotions round, 17 of whom (65%) are diverse according to gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Fifteen (57%) of the new partners are women, marking a significant step up from last February’s round when only eight (36%) of the 23 new partners were women.

Squire’s UK bases in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester received nine new partners in this round, a notable jump from last year when only four UK lawyers made the cut. Corporate lawyer Joe Abbott and pensions specialist Chris Harper were made up in London along with Bradley Silver in the firm’s real estate practice, while two apiece made the cut in Manchester and Birmingham and corporate lawyer Hannah Crosland got the nod in Leeds.

The firm’s London office has seen another new addition recently in the form of Timi Balogun, who moved over to the firm from Curtis Mallet Prevost Colt & Mosle last November to boost its Africa arbitration practice. 

Half of this year’s cohort was made up across seven of the firm’s 17 US offices. Washington DC gained the most, with Beth Goldstein, Ludmilla Kasulke and Brandon Roman made up in the public policy practice and Peter Alfano moving up the ranks in the trade practice. The firm’s Cleveland headquarters welcomed three new partners, while Denver, Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York and Los Angeles gained one apiece.

Squire looked to the Asia Pacific region for the remainder of this year’s promotions, with Asuka Fujita and David Yaegashi moving up in Tokyo in the financial services and litigation teams respectively and real estate specialist Melissa Koo getting the nod in Perth along with litigator Rebecca Heath.  

Squire's continental European network was left off the map this year having seen three promotions in 2021. The firm, which has offices in Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Milan, Prague, Stuttgart, Madrid, Moscow and Warsaw, built its presence in Europe last year when it added six lawyers from DLA Piper in Madrid in a bid to strengthen its position in the Spanish private equity scene. 

In terms of practice area, litigation and corporate tied for the top spot, with four promotions apiece. Public policy came second with three, followed by environmental, safety and health, pensions, real estate, financial services and white collar and government investigations, which each saw two lawyers move up. Data privacy, cybersecurity and digital assets, tax, intellectual property and trade also gained one partner each. 

Mark Ruehlmann, Squire’s chair and global CEO, congratulated the new partners on “achieving this well-deserved career milestone”. 

“They each bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in their respective areas of practice and will continue our tradition of providing the highest quality service to our global clients,” he said. 

Squire made some leadership changes in the US last September when it appointed Michele Connell as global managing partner of the firm’s US LLP. She replaced Frederick Nance, who remained part of the firm’s executive leadership group upon stepping down while also taking charge of the firm’s newly created diversity, equity and inclusion office. 

The firm also appointed Washington DC-based partner Alethia Nancoo to its global board last January, a move that made her the first African-American woman to be named to the global board since the firm’s inception. Following Nancoo’s appointment, more than half of the 12 board members were considered lawyers from diverse backgrounds, the firm said at the time. 

A full list of the promotions is as follows:

Joe Abbott: London, corporate 

Peter Alfano: Washington DC, trade 

Alexander Arensberg: Denver, environmental safety and health 

Emma Ball: Manchester, IP and technology 

Kate-Emma Bailey: Birmingham, pensions 

Kristin Bryan: Cleveland, litigation 

Matthew Canipa: Manchester, corporate 

Hannah Crosland: Leeds, corporate 

Marisa Darden: Cleveland, government investigations and white collar 

Kyle Fath: Los Angeles, data privacy, cybersecurity and digital assets  

Asuka Fujita: Tokyo, financial services 

Beth Goldstein: Washington DC, public policy 

Chris Harper: London, pensions 

Rebecca Heath: Perth, litigation 

Corrine Irish: New York, litigation 

Ludmilla Kasulke: Washington DC, public policy 

Will Kishman: Cleveland, labour and employment 

Melissa Koo: Perth, real estate 

Alison LaBruyere: Atlanta, financial services 

Victoria Murphy: Manchester, tax strategy and benefits 

Brandon Roman: Washington DC, public policy 

Bradley Silver: London, real estate 

Nicola Smith: Birmingham, environmental, safety and health 

Evan Toebbe: Cincinnati, corporate 

Rebecca Worthington: Washington DC, government investigations and white collar 

David Yaegashi: Tokyo, litigation