Slaughter and May has made up 10 lawyers to partner in a promotion round that is in line with the ‘ambitious’ set of diversity targets the firm published for the first time two years ago.

Four of the 10 lawyers in the latest cohort are women, in line with Slaughters’ goal for at least 40% of equity partner promotions globally to be women in the ten years to 2027. 

That ratio marks a return to form after last year’s eight-strong round, which featured only one woman, and sees the firm match 2021’s 40% female round. 

Leading law firms – including Slaughters – have been scrambling to improve their diversity records in recent years through the publication of targets, the launch of new initiatives and also by appointing more women to top positions.

For its part over the last five years 38% of Slaughters’ partner promotions went to women, a figure the firm has raised slightly to 40% this year. 

The firm can also point to the fact that as of 1 May, 45% of its partnership board are women and two thirds of its executive leadership: managing partner Deborah Finkler and COO Jill Hoseason.

The latest promotions are effective 1 May and bring Slaughters’ partner headcount to 112, 96 of whom will be based in London and 16 in the firm’s offices in Brussels, Beijing and Hong Kong. Twenty-eight per cent of the partnership are women.

Alongside the gender target is a commitment that 'between May 2020 and April 2025, a minimum of 15% of equity partner promotions in London and Brussels will be from ethnic minority backgrounds'. Slaughters has significantly bettered that, saying that from 2020 to 2023 it managed to achieve 24%, and that this year it is at 30%.

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Unlike last year when Slaughters’ Brussels and Hong Kong offices welcomed new partners, this round only included lawyers based in the firm’s London headquarters. 

Like last year the firm’s flagship corporate/M&A team welcomed three new partners - Warwick Brennand, Hemita Sumanasuriya and Simon Tysoe. 

David Hay has moved up in the financing team, Sarah Osprey in the tax group and Philippa O’Malley in the pensions, employment and incentives practice. 

Also getting the nod were Tim Newey (restructuring and insolvency), Lorna Nsoatabe (competition) David Shone (financial regulation) and Smriti Sriram (disputes and investigations). 

Steve Cooke, Slaughter and May senior partner, commented: “We are delighted to announce the election of these 10 new partners, a large cohort from practices across the firm. Each will make a valuable contribution to our continued success."

The trio moving up in the corporate and M&A team follows veteran Slaughters partners Simon Nicholls and Richard Smith taking over as heads of the practice last May. The duo succeeded head of corporate Andy Ryde and head of M&A Roland Turnill, with the latter to take over from Cooke as the firm’s next senior partner in May 2024.  

Further reading: Trailblazing women leaders, diversity campaigners and businesses recognised in Women and Diversity in Law Awards