In our site's 2022 partner class, we showcase 54 lawyers on a global scale.
In a significant move, global law firm XYZ has announced the promotion of 54 lawyers to partner and director positions, effective January 1, 2022. This announcement marks a significant milestone for the firm and its continued growth.
The promotions cover 11 practice areas, including litigation and disputes, corporate, M&A and securities, banking and finance, intellectual property, employment and labor, tax, real estate, projects, antitrust and competition, and information governance, privacy and cybersecurity.
Marianne McMahon was promoted as general counsel, based in London. Laura Kiwelu, Darren Smith, and Denton Nichols were promoted in the projects, intellectual property, and litigation and disputes practices, respectively, all based in London and Houston. Rebecca Winthrop was promoted in the bankruptcy, financial restructuring and insolvency practice, based in Los Angeles.
In a separate announcement, Paul Cartwright was promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, as director instead of partner. Victoria Corder, Geraldine Young, and Gerry Pecht were promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in New York, Houston, and as Global Chief Executive of XYZ, respectively.
Eric Green was promoted in the intellectual property practice, based in Austin, while Rebecca Abou-Chedid was promoted in the projects practice, based in Washington, DC. Louisa Roe was promoted in the real estate practice, based in London, and Nicolas Sirtoli and Jared Kaplan were promoted in the corporate, M&A and securities practice, based in London and New York, respectively.
Zayba Drabu, Helen Fairhead, and Annabelle Wheeler were promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in London, London, and Munich and London, respectively. Nathan Baum was promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in Dallas. Claudia Posluschny was promoted in the employment and labor practice, based in Munich.
In Australia, Kate Green, Harriet Oldmeadow, and Nick Sinclair were promoted in the litigation and disputes, banking and finance practices, respectively. Alex Zekkos, Bernd Dreier, and Rachel Chan were promoted in the banking and finance, corporate, M&A and securities practices, based in London, Munich, and Hong Kong, respectively.
Veit Sahlfeld was promoted in the banking and finance practice, based in Hamburg. In Canada, Robin Acworth, Veronique Barry, Scott Boucher, Brian Chau, Matthew Choi, Jenna Anne de Jong, Russell Dufault, Alison FitzGerald, Caroline Jodoin, Jonathan Lafrance, Brigitte LeBlanc-Lapointe, Jennifer McPherson, Brian Milne, Fahad Siddiqui, Joshua Sprague, Nikita Stepin, Tim Stewart were promoted in various practices.
Joseph Drapalski was promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in Los Angeles. James Lockwood was promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in London. Matthew Buckle was promoted in the litigation and disputes practice, based in London. Justin Coddington was promoted in the tax practice, based in Houston. Blake Redwine was promoted in the corporate, M&A and securities practice, based in Dallas. Anna Rudawski was promoted in the information governance, privacy and cybersecurity practice, based in New York. Kimberly Cheeseman was promoted in the employment and labor practice, based in Houston.
Mourant, another global law firm, announced a total of 40 mid-year promotions globally effective August 1, 2025. Of these, 5 promotions were to lawyers in the legal practice, which would include partners and potentially director-level legal roles, while the other promotions were in governance services (24) and business services (11).
Regarding promotions to partner specifically, the firm also promoted 2 Channel Islands lawyers to Partner in March 2025. Thus, combining these figures, at least 7 lawyers were promoted to partner and director positions globally (5 mid-year legal promotions plus 2 partner promotions earlier).
However, no direct gender distribution data for these promoted lawyers was provided in the search results. General industry trends show women make up 53% of lawyers in firms but represent only 30-32% of partners, indicating underrepresentation of women at senior levels.
[1] Mourant Announces Mid-Year Promotions (2025), Mourant Website, https://www.mourant.com/news/2025/08/mourant-announces-mid-year-promotions [2] Women in Law Leadership: A Global Perspective (2020), Thomson Reuters, https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/products-services/legal/resources/thomson-reuters-legal-executive-institute/thomson-reuters-legal-executive-institute-reports/women-in-law-leadership-a-global-perspective.html
The promotions within XYZ law firm not only span multiple business practice areas but also include several individuals in the finance sector, such as Rebecca Winthrop in the bankruptcy, financial restructuring and insolvency practice and Eric Green in the intellectual property practice.
In a subsequent announcement, Mourant, another global law firm, promoted 5 lawyers to partner and potentially director-level legal roles, indicating a potential focus on finance careers, along with 24 promotions in governance services and 11 in business services. However, no direct gender distribution data for these promotions was provided, highlighting the underrepresentation of women at senior levels in the legal industry, as suggested by general industry trends.
