Top 35 UK law firm Travers Smith has announced its largest promotions round to date, making up 11 new partners. 

The cohort represents a marked step up on last year, when the firm made up seven lawyers to partner, and 2020, when it promoted five. 

Four women were included in the latest cohort, 36% of the total, proportionally a small decrease on the last two years when women made up 43% and 40% of the total respectively.  

A spokesperson for Travers Smith said the firm doesn't set gender diversity targets for its partner promotions but that since 2017 women have accounted for 42.5% of those made up.      

This year’s new partners, all of whom are based in the firm’s London offices, are a mixed bag in terms of practice area. Kathleen Russ, Travers Smith senior partner, said the promotions reflected the firm's core focus areas of international alternative asset management, cross-border M&A and global disputes and investigations. 

The firm’s private equity and financial sponsors practice welcomed two new partners – Victoria Bramall and Alex Dixon, both of whom specialise in international private equity and M&A transactions. The disputes resolution team also welcomed a pair of new partners – John Lee, who acts on complex commercial disputes involving multiple jurisdictions, and Joseph Moore, who since joining the firm in 2018 has been heavily involved in the defence of follow-on damages claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. 

Danny Riding, who advises financial market participants on the legal and regulatory requirements affecting their businesses, was made up in the financial services and markets team, while corporate M&A specialist Hugh Hutchison got the nod in the corporate/infrastructure team. 

The firm’s funds, pensions and real estate teams also welcomed one new partner each, while Sam Cottman, who became the Travers’ first director of pro bono in 2020 having been a senior commercial litigator, also got the nod. 

Finally, the firm also promoted US-qualified Brent Sanders, who specialises in federal securities law and advises on capital market transactions in the UK and internationally, in the corporate/US securities practice. 

Travers Smith managing partner, Edmund Reed, described the latest round as “tangible demonstration of the confidence we have in our business as we continue to grow and invest in it”, adding that the firm has more than doubled in size and revenue in the past 10 years.  

"We continue to invest in the future of Travers Smith, not just by investing in our people, including this cohort of partners, but also more widely with our upcoming move to Stonecutter Court with its strong environmental credentials, providing us with a London headquarters that will better reflect who we are as a firm and the importance we place on being a sustainable business," he added. 

The move to Stonecutter Court, set to take place in 2025, will see the firm take over the top nine floors of the 13-storey building in Farringdon totalling 158,000 square feet and in the process bring its London-based staff, which is currently divided across two offices, under one roof. 

Last summer Travers posted a robust set of provisional financial results for the year ending 30 June, with revenue climbing 15.4% to hit £185.7m against a 21.5% jump in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £1.2m. The figures marked a return to form for the firm, which two years ago posted a 1% fall in revenue against a 20% fall in PEP. 

The rebound reflected the sharp recovery in deal markets that occurred in the second half of 2020 and on into 2021 following the Covid-19 generated slump in H1 2020.

The firm acted on seven of the 34 UK Main Market IPOs and 22 secondary equity fundraisings in 2020, including advising Conduit Holdings on its £826m main market IPO, the largest start-up raise ever.

More recently, Travers announced it was advising on UK supermarket giant Morrisons’ acquisition of convenience store franchise McColl’s after it was put into administration earlier this month.