Clifford Chance promotes 31 to partner - 12 made up in London

Clifford Chance has promoted 31 lawyers to partner in its 2025 round, with London accounting for nearly 40% of the global cohort.

The latest round is slightly larger than last year’s total of 29, but remains smaller than the firm’s 2023 and 2022 rounds, which saw 32 and 37 promotions respectively.

The new partners take up their roles on 1 May 2025.

London leads the way

12 of the 31 new partners are based in London, with promotions across corporate, finance, disputes, tax and real estate. The London cohort includes four lawyers in the Global Financial Markets group and four in corporate.

Who made partner in London:

• Alex Hutcheson - Global Financial Markets
• Alex Walker - Corporate
• Alim Amershi - Global Financial Markets
• Amy Bird - Tax, Pensions & Employment
• Ben Jasper - Litigation & Dispute Resolution
• Guy Burkitt - Litigation & Dispute Resolution
• Herbert Swaniker - Corporate
• Leonhard Rudolph - Real Estate
• Olivia Higgs - Corporate
• Patrick Meniru - Corporate
• Simon Connor - Global Financial Markets
• Thea Gausel - Global Financial Markets

Slow US showing

Only one lawyer was promoted in the US: Michael Van Arsdall in Washington, DC.

For the first time in over a decade, the firm made no promotions in New York.

The Magic Circle bucks the trend

Clifford Chance is the last Magic Circle firm to announce its partner promotions for this year.

All of them announced slightly bigger rounds than last year, with the exception of A&O Shearman, where numbers dipped - even compared to legacy A&O’s pre-merger rounds.

Promotion numbers have been more mixed outside of the Magic Circle. HSF, Ashurst, Simmons & Simmons and Eversheds Sutherland are among firms to have announced smaller rounds.

What they said

Global managing partner Charles Adams said the new partners "represent our high-performing, collaborative culture and continued focus on supporting our clients’ most critical challenges."

Senior partner Adrian Cartwright added: "They each bring industry-leading legal expertise and commercial insights, enabling them to deliver the full strength of our global platform."