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A record number of top lawyers have moved to London for jobs this year as the arrival of US law firms in the capital continues to disrupt the market and pay wars for talent.
Law firms made 546 partner recruitment in London this year to December 23, according to data from legal recruiter Edwards Gibson and shared with the Financial Times. The number exceeds last year's record of 514 partner departures, as investment from US law firms in the UK shows no sign of slowing down.
London's legal market has been largely disrupted in recent years as the booming private equity market has fueled rising profits. American law firms in the City. US firms with deep pockets have lured partners from UK headquarters, and increasingly, from American peers.
The UK's A “magic circle” group of firmsincluding Linklaters, Freshfields, A & O Shearman and Clifford Chance, have been particularly affected, losing 28 partners this year, according to the data, surpassing the previous record of 19.
The battle for talent has driven changes in firms' pay structures as they battle to attract and retain talent and more. little talent. Groups like Clifford Chance and America's Latham & Watkins recently added more flexibility to their models so they can better reward top drivers, according to people familiar with the moves. Both firms declined to comment.
“Unprecedented investment by American law firms in private equity related employment has pumped scores of millions of dollars into the system,” said Scott Gibson, founder of Edwards Gibson. “This has distorted the market by causing returns to rise and creating negative effects on the chain as competitors have tried to restock the stock.”
US-based firms Kirkland & Ellis and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison were among the biggest hires in 2024, according to the data, which included 155 lawyers who moved from non-partner roles to partner.
Last year, Paul Weiss did a search quickly build its presence in London and has grown 10 times across Europe, including by opening an office in Brussels, to serve US private clients on the continent.
“Our private equity and client focus is on having top legal counsel in New York and London,” said Neel Sachdev, head of Paul Weiss' London office. “Many firms want to grow in London again as it is a legitimate M&A market and capital markets and a gateway to Europe.”
Some UK-based firms have benefited from this churn, as large firms exit unprofitable practices, such as low-cost routine work in financial services firms.
Simmons & Simmons hired 16 new partners this year, according to the data, making it the second largest hire by 2024.
“The influence of US firms is very significant and you see that some firms have decided to commit to a certain profit target. “That drives some of their strategies and they can't advise on certain market areas,” said Jeremy Hoyland, managing partner of Simmons & Simmons.
“Some of the partners we are talking to don't feel as loved as they did before,” he added.
The hiring frenzy led to raids on a number of top outfits; Latham & Watkins and Linklaters saw huge numbers of moves.
Latham has lost eight of its 13 partner departures to Sidley Austin this year, while Linklaters has seen a number of departures from US peers. Latham London managing partner Ed Barnett said the headquarters was “the most strategically important for decades” and the firm had “an incredibly strong year”. Linklaters declined to comment.
While not all exits can be viewed as losses, the eye-watering packages offered to partners were hard to compete with, said Charlie Harvey, founder of law firm Harvey and Associates.
“We've worked with law firm partners in the London market who have doubled or tripled their turnover when they left,” says Harvey. “We see no signs of hiring a sidekick as we head into 2025.”