Employment law specialist Andrew Howard has joined Travers Smith as a partner from Deloitte to bolster the independent firm’s London ranks.
Howard brings extensive expertise, having played an integral role in building out Deloitte’s employment practice, leading the people and employee relations team since 2024 after becoming a partner in 2022.
Prior to joining the Big Four accountancy firm in 2020, he was a senior associate at legacy Allen & Overy for more than five years. He also had two four-year stints at legacy Speechley Bircham and legacy Eversheds, where he trained and qualified.
Travers Smith said Howard is recognised for his entrepreneurial drive and strong leadership skills, with broad sector experience, particularly in financial services – one of the firm’s key business sectors.
Edmund Reed, Travers Smith’s managing partner, said: “[Howard’s] innovative approach and extensive experience will be a fantastic addition to our employment practice.”
He added: “Andrew’s arrival demonstrates our commitment not only to delivering an exceptional client service, but also to the firm’s growth ambitions.”
Tim Gilbert, who heads what is now a six-partner employment team, said: “We are really pleased to have Andrew join our busy, high-performing department. Our continued success will come from combining our homegrown talent with leading lawyers like Andrew who bring experience, leadership and new perspectives. He makes a great addition to our current and future plans and, as client demand in the market evolves, so too does our team.”
Howard’s arrival follows the 2023 promotion of Ailie Murray to partner, following Alex Fisher’s 2022 exit to set up Goodwin’s UK employment law practice.
Travers Smith also promoted three lawyers to partner and eight to senior counsel this year, compared with nine partners in the previous year, and welcomed its first solicitor-apprentice intake and introduced leadership training for its new partners.
Previous senior lateral hires include private equity partner Jeremy Dennison who joined from Livingbridge in May last year; restructuring partner Mandip Englund, who joined from Fried Frank in April last year; and property litigation head Robert Payne, who joined from CMS the same month.
However, the firm has also seen five practice heads leave over the past 18 months, with head of pensions Susie Daykin moving to Pinsent Masons in January this year, while competition head Stephen Whitfield rejoined what is now Winston Taylor in March after 15 years at Travers.
Travers Smith reported record turnover of £229.4m for the year ending 30 June 2026, a 9.1% increase on last year.
Profit also rose 5.2% to £78m, while profit per equity partner increased by £100,000 to £1.4m. The results mark a return to growth after a difficult 2024/25 when turnover fell 2% to £210m, and profit slipped by just under 4% to £74.1m.
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