White & Case has promoted 59 lawyers to the partnership in its largest-ever round. 

The latest batch of promotions easily surpasses White & Case’s previous record round of 45 in 2019 and is well ahead of last year's 40-strong round. This year, the New York firm elected to focus the majority of the appointments across its Europe, Middle East and Africa office network, with the region accounting for more than half (54%) of the latest appointments. 

White & Case chair Hugh Verrier decribed the record round of promotions as a reflection of the firm's "commitment to deliberate, strategic growth that supports exceptional service for our clients globally. We are investing in our people for the long term.”

In continental Europe, which was the firm’s primary focus in last year’s round, the bulk of the promotions were made in the firm’s German bases, with four appointments in Frankfurt and two apiece in Düsseldorf and Berlin. Antitrust specialist Lars Petersen also made the cut in Hamburg. 

Five lawyers received the nod in Paris, while the firm’s Brussels and Istanbul offices received two promotions apiece. The list of successful European candidates was rounded out by M&A lawyers Alessandro Seganfreddo, Marek Sawicki and Jan Stejskal, who are based in Milan, Warsaw and Prague respectively. 

Two M&A lawyers made partner in the Middle East, with Adrianus Schoorl joining the partnership in Riyadh and Louise Vun moving up in Dubai. Project development and finance expert Sherief Rashed was appointed in Cairo, marking the sole Africa promotion made by the firm this year. 

Promotions in the UK dipped by one from last year’s round, with eight lawyers climbing the ranks in the City compared to nine in 2020. The UK has been a huge area of focus for White & Case in recent years, with the number of partners in its London office increasing by 52% from 80 to 122 since 2016. 

The promotion tally in the Americas, meanwhile, increased significantly from 13 to 22, accounting for the second-largest regional grouping in the round. Eight of the appointments came out of the firm’s New York headquarters. 

Finally, five lawyers made the cut in Asia Pacific, which only saw one promotion last year. Two partners were made up in Melbourne and Singapore, respectively, while the final spot went to trade specialist William Moran in Tokyo. 

Gender balance fell from 37% in 2020 to 31%, with 18 women making the cut, a similar figure to the firm’s last big round in 2019 when women accounted for only 17 of the 45 promotions. 

M&A was the most popular practice area, accounting for 17 (29%) of the promotions, followed by litigation and arbitration (11), capital markets (9), debt finance (5) and project development (4).