Linklaters knocks diversity aims for 2nd year

Linklaters knocks diversity aims for 2nd year

The Magic Circle UK Firm moves to promote 41 partners across its global network as it celebrates 'diversity of talent'

A promotion round that surpassed the firm's diversity targets for the second year in a row saw 17 women promoted out of 41 new partners.

According to the current data, the firm has at least 41 percent of women partners, exceeding its two-year-old target of at least 40 percent of promoted partners being women.

While only 15 percent of the 21 partners in London and New York identify as members of an ethnic minority, 38 percent have done so, easily surpassing the target. This was also achieved in 2021.

"This is a tribute to Linklaters' global capabilities and diversity across all the areas we cover and all jurisdictions we operate in, underlined by the firm's strong culture and commitment to developing people," said Aedamar Comiskey, who joined the firm as its first woman senior partner in July 2021.

Compared to the year 2021, when 40 percent of the promotions were women, 2022's total is six higher than before. Compared to the 2021/22 promotion rounds, the 2021/22 rounds represent an improvement on the original 2020 promotion rounds, when the firm expressed disappointment in not meeting its gender diversity target of at least 30 percent new partners.

Furthermore, Linklaters highlighted the geographical spread of its new workforce, with 59 percent of the new partners located outside the UK, spanning 14 offices around the world, including 17 offices in the UK, 15 offices in continental Europe, 4 offices in Asia, one in the Middle East and four in the Americas.

The firm's three practice areas, corporate (16) and finance (24) were covered by 11 professionals. Dispute resolution brought in one new partner.

After the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, top law firms in the UK have been stepping up efforts to enhance their diversity credentials. The ESG movement has become increasingly influential and clients and potential candidates are scrutinizing their records more closely.

Despite announcing eight new partners yesterday, only two of whom are women, Macfarlanes, the market leader in independent law firms, conceded that it has "a way to go" in achieving its diversity goals.

Only one of Slaughter and May's eight new partners was a woman, a situation that was also faced by Linklaters' Magic Circle rival last month.

There has been long-term progress towards the recent targets set by both the firms.

A complete list of our partners

Jonathan Ford, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group, London

Neil Hoolihan, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group, Brussels

Klaus von der Linden, Mainstream Corporate, Düsseldorf

Martina Farkas, Mainstream Corporate, Hamburg

Daniel Law, Mainstream Corporate (US), London

Jane Cai, Mainstream Corporate, London

Peter McCabe, Mainstream Corporate, London

Dominic da Gama Campos, Mainstream Corporate, London

Andrew Lynch, Mainstream Corporate, London

Esteban Arza, Mainstream Corporate, Madrid

Nicolas Le Guillou, Mainstream Corporate, Paris

Jamie Coomber, Tax, London

Caroline Borgers, Tax, Brussels

Sonia Cissé, TMT IP, Paris

James Hennah, Dispute Resolution, London

Christopher Hunker. Banking, New York

Philip Lee, Banking, New York

Dior Lin, Banking, Singapore

Marta Domino, Banking, Warsaw

Przemyslaw Lipin, Banking, Frankfurt

Angus Graham, Banking, London

Juliana Leite de Barros, Banking, London

Rohan Saha, Banking, London

Rowland Light, Banking, London

I-Ping Soong, Capital Markets, Hong Kong SAR

Daniel Kwon, Capital Markets, Seoul

Aditi Srivastava, Capital Markets, London

Eliane Dejardin Botelho, Banking/Capital Markets, Luxembourg

Pablo Medina, Capital Markets, Madrid

Ying Fu, Energy & Infrastructure, Hong Kong SAR

Maryam Adamji, Energy & Infrastructure, London

Justin Faye, Energy & Infrastructure, Paris

Raza Naeem, Financial Regulation Group, London

Ngoc-Hong Ma, Financial Regulation Group, Paris

Claire Prospert, Investment Funds, Luxembourg

Matthew Plaskow, Real Estate, London

Siobhan Burton, Real Estate, London

Gabriel Cabello, Real Estate, Madrid

Reem Al Sayegh, Banking, Dubai

Pierre-Emmanuel Perais, Mainstream Corporate, New York

Clara Pang, Mainstream Corporate, New York