Law Firm Partner Moves in London - Issue 92

Download the full Partner Moves Issue here >>

Welcome to the 92^nd edition of Law Firm Partner Moves in London, from the specialist partner team at Edwards Gibson, where we look back at announced partner-level recruitment activity in London over the past two months and give you a ‘who’s moved where’ update. Our records go back to 2007, and this is our methodology.

 

• March – April 2026

 

This bi-monthly round-up contains 93 partner moves, narrowly beating the previous record for the same period, set in 2017, by one.

The total is 6% up on the 88 moves recorded in the same period last year; 8% up on the cumulative five-year average (86); and 16% ahead of the cumulative ten-year average (80) for the same period.  

The most covetous firm this edition was Eversheds Sutherland which hired 7 partners followed by Shoosmiths (6), Ashurst (5) and Taylor Wessing (4). In addition, Akin, Broadfield, and DLA Piper hired 3 partners apiece.

 

• Top partner recruiters in London March – April 2026

 

Eversheds Sutherland	7	(3 laterals)
Shoosmiths	6	(5 laterals)
Ashurst	5	(5 laterals)
Taylor Wessing	4	(2 laterals)
Akin	3	(3 laterals)
Broadfield	3	(2 laterals)
DLA Piper	3	(2 laterals)

 

A further 8 firms hired 2 partners each: Alston & Bird, Birketts, Clyde & Co, Gowling WLG, Greenberg Traurig, Orrick, Paul Weiss and Sidley Austin.

On the other side of the coin, over the same period, DLA Piper suffered the highest attrition, losing 7* lateral partners, followed by Kirkland & Ellis which lost 6.

 

• Firms with largest attrition in March – April 2026 (partnership to partnership moves only)

 

DLA Piper	7*
Kirkland & Ellis	6
CMS	4
Goodwin Procter	4
Weil	4
White & Case	3

*This includes a lateral partner moving from DLA Piper’s Leeds office to Brabners in London.

 

• Team hires March – April 2026

 

The most sizeable multi‑partner team moves this edition were Akin’s acquisition of a restructuring trio from Weil and Ashurst’s hire of a three‑partner corporate private equity team from Goodwin.

Elsewhere, 6 firms hired two-partner teams: Alston & Bird (structured finance from DLA Piper); Clyde & Co (asset finance and real estate finance from Greenberg Traurig); Eversheds Sutherland (IP litigation from DLA Piper); Orrick (structured finance from Cadwalader); Shoosmiths (private equity from Trowers & Hamlins); and Sidley Austin (restructuring from Clifford Chance).

 

• Uno Reverse - Kirkland vs Paul Weiss

 

After more than two decades with a London presence, in August 2023 the New York firm Paul Weiss relaunched its London office with an English law offering. Since then,  and particularly in the 18 months following its fiery City re‑birth, it has behaved less like a conventional lateral hirer and more like an invasive species dropped into a previously stable ecosystem: a Wall Street raptor, backed by a nine‑figure investment, ripping out established partners from rivals, repricing the very top of the market, and forcing knock‑on restocking across the London Big Law biome.

During this rampage, no firm has suffered more conspicuously from those predations than Kirkland & Ellis - itself long the apex predator of the private‑capital food chain, which has lost no fewer than 16 laterals - at least half of whom share partners - to the New Yorker’s Air Street office.

“Having been steadily picked over since August 2023, the Chicago leviathan finally turns and bites back”

Still, for all Paul Weiss’ apparent dominance over its Chicago rival, the traffic has not been entirely one‑way. And behind the Wall Street firm’s headline‑grabbing noise, market watchers may remember that right at the start of this saga - in the immediate run‑up to Paul Weiss’ London reboot - Kirkland announced that it was hiring a four‑partner private‑equity M&A team (two laterals and two verticals) from Paul Weiss’ London office, led by then office head Alvaro Membrillera - a move in itself of no small significance.

This edition sees the most resonant twist yet in this long-running duel, and it was quite the Kirkland riposte. Having been steadily picked over since August 2023, the Chicago leviathan finally turned and bit back, snatching Paul Weiss’ European head of M&A, Will Aitken‑Davies.

In a market where symbolism matters, the significance is twofold: Aitken‑Davies is not a “makeweight” hire - so, if anyone needed reminding, the move is proof that the Illinois powerhouse can give as good as it gets; more importantly, his departure marks Paul Weiss’ first ever English‑law lateral defection in London, puncturing the illusion of an unstoppable Big Law blitzkrieg. 

C’est la guerre!

 

• Pre-merger paradox – some atypical hiring

 

The dying days of 2025 saw an unprecedented slew of law firm tie-ups: between 17 November and 18 December, no fewer than three transatlantic mergers were announced - Ashurst with Perkins Coie to form Ashurst Perkins Coie; Taylor Wessing with Winston & Strawn to form Taylor Winston; and Hogan Lovells with Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft to create Hogan Lovells Cadwalader.

“… it is somewhat surprising that, since the merger announcements … the merger candidates have collectively hired 15 partners against just 11 lateral defections to rivals.”

When law firms merge, elevated partner attrition is common - both immediately before and after the coupling - as practice overlaps, client conflicts, partner egos, and questions of relative contribution almost inevitably come into play. Far less common is for partner hires at the pre-merged legacy firms to outstrip departures. Indeed, in the period immediately following the announcement of a tie-up, legacy firms typically seek to minimise, or even freeze, lateral hiring. The rationale is straightforward: in an already delicate integration - often balanced on a knife edge - where low-level turf wars and internal power plays are distraction enough, introducing further cost, complexity, and potential conflicts via third-party arrivals risks unsettling an already fragile equilibrium.

So, it is somewhat surprising that, since the merger announcements began in November 2025 (i.e. across our last three editions), the merger candidates have collectively hired 15 partners against just 11 lateral defections to rivals. This breaks down as: Ashurst (6 hires vs 4 departures); Taylor Wessing (5 hires vs 4 defections); Cadwalader (2 hires vs 1 defection); and Perkins Coie (1 hire vs 0 defections). Whilst Winston & Strawn has neither lost nor gained any laterals, Hogan Lovells stands out as the only firm in net decline, with 1 hire offset by 2 exits.

Against that wider backdrop, this March–April round-up is notable for the tempo: Ashurst and Taylor Wessing alone contribute nine arrivals (a quintet and a quartet respectively), and even Cadwalader and Perkins Coie’s solitary hires are proportionately meaningful for their bonsai London partnerships – in Perkins Coie’s case lifting partner headcount by close to 15%. 

 

• Other Fun Facts March – April 2026

 

• 34% of moves this edition were female (32).
• 2 firms hired from in-house or business: DLA Piper (from the Financial Conduct Authority) and Eversheds Sutherland (from Canada Life Limited).
• 23% of all moves (21) were moves from non-partnership roles (either moves from in-house or non-partners elevated to partnership upon moving from another law firm).

 

CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR OUR FULL MARCH - APRIL 2026 REPORT

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss this article or any other aspect of the market in more depth.

 

Scott Gibson, Director scott.gibson@edwardsgibson.com or +44 (0)7788 454 080

 

Sloane Poulton, Director sloane.poulton@edwardsgibson.com or +44 (0)7967 603 402

 

Please click here to understand our methodology for compiling Partner Moves

 

Download the full Partner Moves Issue here >>

If you would like to subscribe to our Partner Moves Newsletter, email us at support@edwardsgibson.com

• Edwards Gibson Partner Round-Up - Our Methodology
• Previous editions of Partner Moves in London
• Quantifying your following and writing an effective law firm business plan
• Specimen partner business plan template
• The Partnership Track and Moving for Immediate Partnership
• Legal directory rankings and their effect on lawyer recruitment
• Restrictive Covenants and Moving on as a Partner