Addleshaw Goddard elects Andrew Johnston as Managing Partner

Addleshaw Goddard elects Andrew Johnston as Managing Partner

Andrew's appointment is the first time in the history of Addleshaw Goddard that a Partner based outside of the UK has been elected Managing Partner.

International law firm Addleshaw Goddard has chosen Andrew Johnston as its next Managing Partner. Serving as the head of the Middle East and Asia since 2019, he will begin his four-year term beginning May 2024.

His appointment follows an uncontested election and marks the first time that Addleshaw Goddard has named a lawyer based outside the UK as a Managing Partner. To take up the position, Johnston will return to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He succeeds John Joyce, who decided to stand down a year ahead of the end of his third term. For a decade he has been at the helm, having become managing partner in 2014 and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Joyce had earlier apprised about introducing a two-term limit for managing and senior partners. He stated that he never intended to serve a third term but had done so to avoid the firm having an election during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On his appointment, Johnston stated, “My ambition is for Addleshaw Goddard to double in size by 2030. I am looking forward to the firm capitalizing on the strong platform created under Joyce's leadership and using it as a springboard for greater success. We will continue to invest where clients need us the most and I will give as much focus as I can to ensure that we flourish as a thriving global business, dominant across the UK, with greater influence in the city.”

Johnston has previously served at Clifford Chance in London before moving to the Middle East. Later he joined K&L Gates and in 2013 moved to Addleshaw Goddard, leading its M&A practice in the Middle East and the next year, became a Board member.

In a statement, Addleshaw Goddard said that Johnston had led the firm to a record performance in the Middle East. It was the firm's fastest-growing region in the financial year ending April 2023, posting 43 percent income growth in a year when its global revenue grew 18 percent to £443m.

Early this year, the firm announced its plans for a new office in Riyadh - the fourth in the region. It aimed at targeting revenue growth of 60 percent over the next five years in the Middle East.