The first quarter of 2025 has seen a significant amount of partner moves within London’s legal market.

According to Edwards Gibson, there were 155 partner moves in January and February alone, a 49% increase from 2024. This uptick was partly due to the dissolution of Memery Crystal, which led to 20 partners seeking new homes. Firms like Fladgate capitalised on this, taking over nine partners from the firm.

We collated our own data, looking at a selection of 160 lateral moves from January, February and March 2025. Information on these moves were sourced from various legal publications and online databases. Using this snapshot of the lateral moves market we are able to look at some potential trends for 2025.

Key Trends in Lateral Partner Moves

1. US Firms Continue Their London Expansion

US law firms have been at the forefront of lateral hiring in London, aggressively attracting top-tier talent from UK firms and international competitors. This trend reflects their sustained commitment to expanding their foothold in the London legal market, particularly in corporate, finance, and private equity law.

• Akin Gump significantly strengthened its corporate and tax teams, hiring Daniel Wayte from Orrick, Alexander Malahais from White & Case, and Natasha Kaye from Cooley.
  
  
• Kirkland & Ellis continued its dominant expansion strategy from 2024 by recruiting Albert Weatherill from Norton Rose Fulbright.
  
  
• Latham & Watkins bolstered its London office with Hugh O’Sullivan from Goodwin, Serena Lee from Akin Gump, as well as Sophie Goossens joining from Reed Smith to enhance the Artificial Intelligence, Communications and Copyright practice.
  
  
• Gibson Dunn also implemented an assertive acquisition strategy, hiring James O'Donnell from DLA Piper, Mark Manson-Bahr from A&O Shearman, and Presley Warner and Chris Howard from Sullivan & Cromwell.

According to industry reports from The Lawyer and Legal Business, US firms continue to outcompete UK firms on compensation, offering salary packages exceeding £2 million per annum for top lateral hires. The dominance of US firms in London's legal market is expected to persist throughout 2025.

2. Corporate, Banking & Finance, and Disputes Practices Dominate Hiring

Disputes, Corporate, and Finance have remained the most sought-after practice areas for lateral moves, with major firms reinforcing their transactional teams to respond to increasing client demand.

• 36 of the hires we analysed were for contentious partners, Finance had 32 moves and Corporate was third at 24.
  
  
• Cadwalader expanded its funds finance division by recruiting Doug Murning and Matthew Worth from Ashurst and Bronwen Jones from Reed Smith.
  
  
• Clifford Chance brought in Aimee Sharman and Matt Lilley as a team from Mayer Brown, as well as M&A specialist Bruce Embley from Skadden.
  
  
• CMS gained product liability partners Simon Castley and Sarah Croft from Shook, Hardy, Bacon following the closure of their London office in January.

A report from Financial Times Legal suggests that firms are responding to a global surge in private capital and structured finance transactions, which are expected to grow by 15% in 2025. As a result, firms are investing heavily in top talent within these sectors.

3. Female Partner Moves on the Rise

Gender diversity at the partner level has been an increasing focus for law firms, and our dataset of 160 moves featured female partner moves 51 times, roughly 46%.

• Monica Gogna moves from EY to Squire Patton Boggs, bringing across a four-lawyer team with her.
  
  
• Jade MacIntyre left Deloitte to join Lewis Silkin, marking a significant shift in intellectual property and regulatory practices.
  
  
• Danielle Carr joined Browne Jacobson from Rosenblatt as their new Head of Commercial Disputes in London.

This increase aligns with industry-wide diversity initiatives, such as The 30% Club and Chambers Diversity & Inclusion, which emphasise the need for greater female representation at senior levels in law firms.

4. Firms Experiencing the Most Partner Losses

While our data is not indicative of every move that took place in the market, some firms stood out as experiencing high amounts of attrition fairly early on.

DLA Piper and Kennedys recorded at least five partner losses this quarter, while White & Case, BCLP and A&O Shearman lost four:

• DLA Piper saw themselves losing Jeremy Andrews, James O'Donnell, Paul Gray, Sarah Smith, and Joel Eytle.
  
  
• Kennedys lost Christopher Dunn, Mark Lloyd, Jonathan Evans and Michael Biltoo, and they also lost Disputes partner Kavan Bakhda.
  
  
• White & Case lost Alexander Malahais, Mark Castillo-Bernaus, Chris McCarry, and Simon Caridia.
  
  
• BCLP lost Andrew Leitch, Edward Coulson, Kyle O’Sullivan and Kurt Ma.
  
  
• A&O lost Gordon Houseman, Mark Manson-Bahr, Helen Biggin and David Stone.

Please note that we did not include Memery Crystal attrition in this data set, however, the firm did lose at least 20 partners, though four of those were not technically laterals as they joined Lawrence Stephens as directors.

5. Strategic Team Acquisitions Shape the Market

Several firms pursued team acquisitions rather than isolated lateral hires, strengthening their practices through strategic group moves.

• Fladgate capitalised on Memery Crystal’s dissolution, absorbing nine of its partners to bolster its corporate and private client teams.
  
  
• DWF recruited a four-partner marine insurance team from Kennedys, led by Chris Dunn.
  
  
• McDermott Will & Emery recruited Daniel Weston and Jamie Burgess from CMS, reinforcing its private equity practice.

According to Bloomberg Law, team hires are becoming a preferred strategy for firms seeking immediate market impact and seamless client transitions, allowing for stronger business continuity, and this is something that we would expect to continue throughout 2025.

Looking Ahead: What to Expect for the Rest of 2025

Based on Q1 trends, the legal industry should expect:

• Continued dominance of US firms in lateral hiring, particularly around private equity and finance.
  
  
• Further retention challenges for UK-based firms as pay wars escalate, which could drive increased lateral movement.
  
  
• Growth in litigation and restructuring hires, as firms prepare for potential economic downturns and increased disputes.

With an increasingly competitive legal market, firms will need to balance talent acquisition with effective retention strategies to remain competitive. As partner mobility continues to shape the industry, the London legal market is set for further transformation throughout 2025.