The Lawyer Horizon’s Analysis of Fladgate’s Hiring Spree cites Edwards Gibson Data
Fladgate’s ambitious recruitment strategy has been under the spotlight in The Lawyer Horizon, where Margaret Taylor examines the firm’s plan to increase partner numbers by 25% by 2027. Central to the article was Edwards Gibson’s 90th Edition of Law Firm Partner Moves in London, which revealed that 2025 was a record-breaking year for London partner hires, with 668 announced moves – far surpassing the previous year’s 551 record and sitting comfortably 24% above the five-year average.
Against this backdrop, Fladgate emerged as one of the most active firms in the City, ranking second only to Kirkland & Ellis. The piece highlighted that all 14 of Fladgate’s additions were partner-to-partner hires, placing the firm at the top of the lateral charts. Edwards Gibson’s analysis provided essential context for this trend, noting that the surge was partly driven by the collapse of Memery Crystal at the start of 2025, which saw Fladgate rescue nine partners from the now defunct firm. More broadly, the piece drew on Edwards Gibson’s insights to explain the wider hiring boom, attributing the drive to Big Law’s insatiable appetite for scale, and smaller firms’ desire both to emulate them and benefit from their less-profitable trimmings.
Edwards Gibson is proud that it’s market leading reports have been used by The Lawyer’s premium daily data‑rich strategic newsletter to anchor its insights, on no less than three occasions over the past 12 months, additionally featuring Edwards Gibson data on its piece, ‘Paul Hastings is a leaky ship’ and its article on ‘Latham, Paul Weiss and the great apes’. The link to all three articles can be found below.
Read the full Lawyer Horizon ‘Fladgate’s hiring spree comes with risks attached’ article here (paywall).
Read the full Lawyer Horizon ‘Paul Hastings is a leaky ship’ article here (paywall).
Read the full Lawyer Horizon ‘Latham, Paul Weiss and the great apes’ article here (paywall).