Top 15 US firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has promoted 27 to partner across its offices in the US and Europe in its most diverse round to date.

The cohort is a step up from last year when 20 lawyers got the nod and features twelve women and seven minority and LGBTQ+ lawyers, meaning that 63% of the partners elect are diverse.

The firm has continued to make the bulk of its promotions in its home country, with London and Paris the only offices out of its 10 in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia to see lawyers made up.

Data privacy and cybersecurity specialist Vera Lukic got the nod in Paris, while the trio made up in London – Claibourne Harrison, Patrick Hennessy and Amar Madhani – are all members of the firm’s M&A practice. Their promotion follows shortly after the firm boosted its private equity M&A capabilities in London with a trio of partner-level hires from US rival Vinson & Elkins amid a booming market for corporate and private equity laterals.   

In the US, the firm’s New York office gained nine new partners, followed by six in Washington DC, three in Orange County and two in its Los Angeles headquarters. Dallas welcomed tax lawyer Michael Cannon, while San Francisco saw tech and life sciences-focused corporate governance lawyer Aaron Briggs get the nod and in Palo Alto Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter was made up in the privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation team.  

The round was a mixed bag in terms of practice areas, with three lawyers in the M&A practice made up in the US alongside the trio in London. Two were promoted in the litigation practice, both of whom are based in New York, while appellate and constitutional law saw Matthew Rozen and Jacob Spencer make the cut, both in Washington DC.

Other practice areas to gain two new partners were labour and employment, real estate and privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation, of which Lukic is a member alongside Gaedt-Sheckter. Julia Lapitskaya also made the grade alongside Briggs in securities regulation and corporate governance.

Nine practice areas welcomed one new partner, made up of white collar defence and investigations, tax, environmental litigation and mass tort, securities litigation, business restructuring and reorganisation, public policy, projects and infrastructure, government contracts and capital markets.

“We are delighted to welcome this class to the partnership,” said Barbara Becker, chair and managing partner of Gibson Dunn. “Each one of these lawyers has proven themselves to be trusted advisors in their respective areas, enhancing the collaborative relationships we share with our clients. This dynamic group also represents the diverse bench of talent across our global platform. I am incredibly proud of each of them and look forward to all they will accomplish as our newest partners.”

In April, the firm also added a quartet of regulatory lawyers from Herbert Smith Freehills in Hong Kong as it sought to bolster its financial services regulatory practice in Asia. The team was led by partner William Hallatt, who currently serves as co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s global financial regulatory group and head of the Asia-Pacific financial regulatory practice.

A full list of the promotions is as follows:

Amanda Aycock (litigation / New York)

Aaron Briggs (Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance / San Francisco)

Courtney Brown (white collar defense and investigations / Washington DC)

Michael Cannon (tax / Dallas)

Megan Cooney (labour and employment / Orange County)

Rachel Levick Corley (environmental litigation and mass tort / Washington DC)

Colin Davis (securities litigation / Orange County)

Quinton Farrar (mergers and acquisitions / New York)

Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter (privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation / Palo Alto)

Matthew Gibbons (real estate / New York)

Jason Zachary Goldstein (business restructuring and reorganisation / New York)

Michelle Gourley (mergers and acquisitions / Orange County)

Darcy Harris (litigation / New York)

Claibourne Harrison (mergers and acquisitions / London)

Patrick Hennessy (mergers and acquisitions / London)

Roscoe Jones, Jr. (public policy / Washington DC)

Julia Lapitskaya (securities regulation and corporate governance / New York)

Vera Lukic (privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation / Paris)

Amar Madhani (mergers and acquisitions / London)

Toren Murphy (projects and infrastructure / New York)

Lindsay Paulin (government contracts / Washington DC)

Tiffany Phan (labour and employment / Los Angeles)

Kristen Poole (mergers and acquisitions / New York)

Matthew Rozen (appellate and constitutional law / Washington DC)

Eric Scarazzo (capital markets / New York)

Jacob Spencer (appellate and constitutional law / Washington DC)

Sean Tierney (real estate / Los Angeles)