The firm promotes 30 lawyers to partner with London, recording seven new partners
Willkie Farr and Gallagher has promoted 30 lawyers to partner in its latest round of promotions, with London recording the largest intake of any city. The seven promotions in the capital increase the size of the London partner group by 25 percent and represent the firm’s most significant City intake for several years.
The promotions take effect from 1 January 2026 and span the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom across seven practice areas. Corporate and financial services dominated the round with 13 promotions, reflecting the continued strength of that practice within the firm.
Firm chair Thomas Cerabino said the new partners will be important contributors as the firm continues to expand its global platform. The New York headquarters recorded six promotions, followed by four each in Washington DC and Houston. Chicago saw two promotions, and the Los Angeles office welcomed one new partner, Matthew Busch, who joins the litigation team.
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Germany tallied three promotions. The firm added that its presence in the country has grown, supported by the opening of a third office in Hamburg earlier in the year. The Hamburg launch followed the recruitment of restructuring lawyers from Quinn Emanuel and litigation specialists from Latham and Watkins. Paris also had three promotions.
Outside corporate and financial services, the asset management team recorded the next largest group of promotions. Litigation and finance each recorded four promotions, while intellectual property had two. Antitrust and communications and media had one new partner each.
In London, Magdi Adab, Eilidh Brown and Rebecca Hughes joined the corporate partner group. Melina Combeau and Charles Hadley were promoted in asset management. Alaric Green joined the antitrust and competition team and Timothy Sawyer was promoted in finance.
The promotions raise the London partner count to 36 and reflect the growing strategic value of the City office to the United States firm. In 2024, Willkie noted that the London practice was one of the firm’s fastest-growing offices during the previous five-year period.
The firm significantly raised its profile in London in 2019 when it hired private equity partners David Arnold and Gavin Gordon from Kirkland and Ellis. Over the following five years, the firm increased its London headcount by 125 percent to 135 lawyers through a combination of hires and internal promotions in areas such as private equity, antitrust litigation and international arbitration.
More recently, Hamesh Khatkar joined from Kirkland as a private equity partner. The office also welcomed secondaries specialist Benoit Champon from Akin, where he had been a counsel. At the same time, Duncan Speller, who served as co-head of the London arbitration practice, left for Duane Morris.