Headline Partner Moves in London September 2017 – January 2018

Headline Partner Moves in London September 2017 – January 2018 Introduction Our first report of the year allows us the opportunity to look back on a fascinating 12 months in the lateral recruitment market in London. In terms of volume, the number of partner moves in London has remained remarkably consistent over the last few years. In 2017 we reported on 445 moves in London. Whilst this was down on the 537 moves of the preceding 12 months, 75 of those 2016 moves were from the disintegrating KWM, so the more accurate figure for comparison purposes is 462 moves in 2016. Even if we subtract the 16 moves of legacy KWM partners in 2017, this still leaves us with a total of 429 headline partner moves, a slight decline on 2016, but not significant enough to show any particular trend. What is abundantly clear is that Brexit has not killed the lateral market as some had predicted it might - and the appetite of firms to hire partners and teams from competitors remains high. According to our data, Clyde & Co and Simmons & Simmons were the most prolific acquirers of partner talent in London last year, with 11 new partners joining both these firms in 2017. DAC Beachcroft and Reed Smith were just behind, with 10 laterals each. The elite US firms tend to steal the headlines when it comes to lateral moves but, interestingly, it is very much quality rather than quantity which informed their hiring in 2017. Of the big beasts of US law, only Kirkland & Ellis feature in our top hiring firms of 2017 with seven hires into London. By contrast, in 2016, Kirkland’s eight laterals were somewhat overshadowed by Latham’s 13, Sidley’s 12 and White & Case’s 11 hires. None of these firms make it to the top table this year. Is this a sign of increased caution amongst the top US firms or simply an example of how hiring happens in waves, with firms pausing for breath and integration after going on a lateral hiring spree? We also note that PwC make it into the Top Hiring firms of 2017 with seven partner hires. This is the second time they have appeared in our top table – they had six partners join in 2015. There has been a lot of recent commentary on the Big 4 and they are definitely making strides in legal. In this report we note corporate partner, Richard Lewis’ move from Eversheds to KPMG and also tax partner Matthew Herrington swapping McDermott Will & Emery for KPMG. Another top 10 accountancy firm has also entered the market with RSM growing its legal practice with the recent hire of Sophie St John as a private client partner. The jury is still out on the threat posed to traditional law firms by these multi-disciplinary professional services giants but it is definitely something to keep an eye on. Senior associate to immediate partner moves remain an important part of the market, with 90 such moves in 2017 or 20% of the total. This compares to 79 such hires in 2016 and 80 in 2015. The ease of making a jump to an immediate partner position at another firm very much depends on the practice area. It seems to be good news if you are a finance senior associate, as 18 people at this level managed to secure a partner position elsewhere, a whopping 39% of all finance moves in 2017. Not so great if you are a disputes lawyer in search of a step up to partnership, with only 6 such promotions out of a total of 58 moves, a tad over 10%. Looking at the breakdown of moves across practice areas, we can see that the traditional gap between corporate and commercial litigation as the biggest two practice areas for lateral recruitment has shrunk. Corporate just edges it into pole position in 2017 with 59 moves, as against 58 litigation hires. In 2015 there were 26 more corporate than litigation moves and in 2016, 14 more. Meanwhile, real estate is at its lowest level for a while, with only 34 moves in 2017, as against 40 moves in 2015 and a massive 62 moves in 2016. In other areas, 2017 has seen a marked increase in insurance moves (37 moves as against 26 last year and 17 in 2015); insolvency and restructuring hires (20 moves as against 14 last year and 10 in 2015); and tax partners (19 moves as against 13 last year and 14 in 2015). Competition moves have been marked by their rarity in 2017 with only seven moves reported in the past 12 months as against 15 in 2015 and 23 in 2016. Perhaps this is one of the few practice areas to really suffer a Brexit slow-down or is this simply down to a dearth of movable talent? The insurance market has been particularly choppy over the last few months as some firms struggle to make insurance work pay in the City. We have seen the growth of Bristol in particular as a regional hub, with Clydes the latest firm to open there. December brought the news that Mayer Brown were losing a significant team of insurance partners to Kennedys led by David Chadwick. At the same time, Sedgwick’s collapse in the US led to their 6 London partners coming onto the market. DAC Beachcroft and RPC picked up two apiece, with CMS taking one and the head of London Ed Smerdon moving inhouse to Aon. BLM have also taken a hit with a number of partner losses, including a two-partner team to Clydes. In this report we have also analysed the number of female partners moving. Of the 446 reported moves in 2017, 101 of these were female or 22.64% of the total. What to make of these figures? The starting point needs to be the number of female partners in the City. According to the Lawyer in September 2017, 25% of all partners in the UK 200 are female. However most of the moves we report are for top 100 firms and US firms (some of whom don’t have a great track record in diversity) so 22.64% doesn’t feel too out of kilter with the likely total number of female partners at these firms. There are significant differentials when we look at the male/female breakdown across practice areas. Of the 59 reported corporate moves in 2017, only six were female (basically 10%). By contrast, in employment and pensions, 12 of the 23 (52%) were women and in private client it was 8 out of 14 (57%). None of this is too surprising, but it does highlight the difficulty of firms trying to address gender imbalances in areas such as corporate through lateral recruitment and it is clear that law firms need to redouble their efforts to bring their own female talent through their ranks if these figures are ever to improve. It is impossible to extrapolate the exact level of seniority of the 101 female partners who moved in 2017, but with The Lawyer suggesting that only 18% of equity partners at the top 200 firms are female, it is safe to assume that this figure drops when looking at top 100 and US firms in London. Certainly, finding female moves deemed significant enough for the legal press to include them in their breaking news segments is not easy. In The Lawyer’s top 10 hires of 2017 (which in actual fact features 15 names as they include a couple of team moves), the only female partner mentioned is Katja Butler, a junior partner who joined Richard Youle in moving from White & Case to Skadden. This is not to criticise the legal publications which have been important in getting firms to focus more on diversity. But it does demonstrate that, whilst there is rightly a lot of attention on improving the total numbers of female partners, there is also a huge amount of work to be done in encouraging female partners to move up the ranks into positions of leadership and influence. The highest profile move of the year came right at the end of 2017 with Kirkland enticing private equity partner David Higgins from Freshfields. Whilst his loss will undoubtedly be felt at Freshfields, only time will tell whether Higgins is worth the astronomic remuneration Kirkland have reportedly paid to bring him over. The Magic Circle can continue to tinker away with their respective lock-steps but they simply can’t compete in cash terms with firms like Kirkland and we will continue to see a trickle of talent to much more profitable US firms over coming months. It is unrealistic for management to prevent some heads being turned so the real challenge for the Magic Circle is to make sure that the trickle doesn’t become a torrent. Paul, Dan and the Team 020 7332 2680 Deacon Search is an independent legal recruitment boutique focusing exclusively on partner moves in London. If you are a law firm interested in discussing a potential assignment or an individual partner or team considering a move, please contact us. Partner Consultants: Paul Dan Scott Norah Sarah Partner Research & Market Intelligence Danielle Gemma Agi Joanne The individuals listed in the tables below are movers reported between 20th September 2017 and 8th January 2018. They are all partners who moved to or from a London office, unless otherwise stated. 1. Corporate/Private Equity Name From To Discipline White & Case Peter Lewis CMS Private Equity (Counsel) Crowell & Moring Amy Comer Morgan Lewis Corporate (London & New York) Private Equity Christopher Field Kirkland & Ellis Dechert Corporate Private Equity Andrew Carpenter Addleshaw Goddard DWF Corporate Mel Sims DLA Piper DWF Corporate Corporate Gibson Dunn & Jeremy Kenley Mayer Brown Real Estate Private Crutcher Equity Markus Bauman King & Spalding Goodwin Corporate Charles Russell Jaspal Sekhon Speechlys Hill Dickinson Corporate (Senior Associate) Philip Newhouse McGuireWoods Michelmores Corporate David Higgins Freshfields Kirkland & Ellis Private Equity Richard Lewis Eversheds KPMG Corporate Tim Hewens Squire Patton Boggs Osborne Clarke Private Equity Catherine Moss Winckworth Sherwood Shakespeare Martineau Corporate James Wood Ashurst Sidley Austin Corporate Simpson Thacher & Wim De Vlieger Bartlett Sidley Austin Private Equity (Counsel) Simpson Thacher & Till Lefranc Bartlett Sidley Austin Private Equity (Senior Associate) The Treasury Peter King Weil Gotshal & Manges Corporate (Legal Director) Maclay Murray & Spens Adam Lynch Wedlake Bell Corporate (Senior Associate) Oliver Harker Reed Smith Weightmans Corporate Dominic Ross Ashurst White & Case Corporate Linklaters Daniel Turgel White & Case Corporate (Senior Associate) 2.

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