Travers Smith has announced a reduced partnership round, with three partners being promoted with effect from 1 July 2026.
The cohort – the smallest since 2014 – follows a nine-strong round last year and sees Michael Leadbeater and Jason Larkins move up in the finance practice and Leigh Stockey promoted in the funds team.
Sources familiar with the firm said the smaller class was due to talent-development readiness within the potential partner pipeline rather than financial constraints. Travers Smith saw its revenue dip slightly in the financial year ending 30 June 2025 to £210m, as profit per full equity partner remained steady at £1.3m.
Larkins specialises in leveraged-finance transactions across the mid-market, advising lender and sponsor clients, as well as senior, mezzanine, second-lien, unitranche and other private capital providers on matters across the capital structure.
Leadbeater's experience spans finance transactions including leveraged buyouts, unitranche financings, FOLO structures, holdco PIK, refinancings and corporate restructurings. He advises private equity and lender clients, as well as supporting large corporate borrowers.
Meanwhile Stockey specialises in establishing evergreen investment funds for alternative asset managers seeking to diversify their investor base beyond purely institutional clients. She has particular expertise in the design, distribution and operation of European-domiciled funds specifically targeted at wealth managers and private banks.
Travers Smith managing partner, Edmund Reed, said the trio would "play a key role in strengthening our already highly successful funds and finance practices. I have no doubt they will go from strength to strength, and I look forward to seeing them thrive in this next phase of their careers."
The firm also promoted two associates to senior counsel in January 2026, with Sheamal Samarasekera moving up in the pensions team and Marianne Parkinson in the employment practice.
Over the course of last year Travers recruited private equity partner Jeremy Dennison from Livingbridge, senior restructuring and insolvency lawyer Mandip Englund from Fried Frank and Robert Payne as head of property disputes from CMS, among other hires.
Going the other way, the firm has seen several practice heads depart for rivals over the past year, including its former competition chief Stephen Whitfield moving to legacy Taylor Wessing in March ahead of the firm's merger with Winston & Strawn.
Former pensions head Susie Daykin also left for Pinsent Masons in January, while former tax head Russell Warren exited for King & Spalding last October and former leveraged finance head Matthew Ayre moved to Goodwin in July.
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