Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
A record number of senior lawyers have relocated to London this year as the arrival of US law firms in the capital continues to rattle the market and fuel wage wars for talent.
Law firms hired 546 partners in London during the year to December 23, according to data shared with the Financial Times by legal broker Edwards Gibson. The figure surpasses last year’s record of 514 partner changes as investment by US law firms in the UK shows no signs of slowing.
The London legal market has seen major disruption in recent years as a booming private equity market has driven significant expansion in profitability American law firms in the city. Financially strong US firms have poached partners from their UK-headquartered competitors and, increasingly, from their US competitors.
The United Kingdom “Magic Circle” group of companies.which includes Linklaters, Freshfields, A&O Shearman and Clifford Chance, have been particularly affected, losing a record 28 partners this year, breaking the previous record of 19, according to the data.
The war for talent has led to changes in pay structures as companies struggle to attract and retain rainmakers, and more Young talent. Corporations such as Clifford Chance and America’s Latham & Watkins have recently made their own models more flexible to better reward top performers, people familiar with the moves say. Both companies declined to comment.
“Unprecedented investments by U.S. law firms in private equity recruiting have pumped tens of millions of dollars into the system,” said Scott Gibson, founder of Edwards Gibson. “This has created market distortion as compensation has skyrocketed and created huge knock-on effects up the chain as unfortunate competitors have scrambled to restock.”
According to the data, US-founded law firms Kirkland & Ellis and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison were among the largest recruiters in 2024, including 155 lawyers moving from non-partner roles to partner.
Last year, Paul Weiss tried to do this build quickly its London presence and has grown tenfold across Europe, including by opening an office in Brussels to serve U.S. private equity clients on the continent.
“Our private equity and corporate clients are focused on having world-class counsel in New York and London,” said Neel Sachdev, co-head of Paul Weiss’ London office. “Many firms are looking to replicate the growth in London as it is a key legal market for M&A and capital markets and a gateway to Europe.”
Some UK-headquartered mid-sized companies have also benefited from the exodus, as larger companies retreat from less profitable areas of activity, such as routine, lower-value work for financial services firms.
According to the data, Simmons & Simmons has hired 16 new partners this year, making it the second-largest recruiter in 2024.
“The influence of US companies is very large and some companies have decided to commit to a certain profit target. This drives some of their strategies forward and they can no longer afford to advise in certain areas of the market,” said Jeremy Hoyland, managing partner of Simmons & Simmons.
“Some of the partners we talk to no longer feel as loved as they once did,” he added.
The hiring frenzy has led to raids on a number of top companies; Latham & Watkins and Linklaters recorded some of the most departures.
Latham lost eight of his 13 partner departures to Sidley Austin this year, while Linklaters also saw a number of departures for US colleagues. Ed Barnett, managing partner of Latham in London, said the capital had been “a strategic priority for decades” and the company had “had an incredibly strong year”. Linklaters declined to comment.
While not all departures would be viewed as a loss, the eye-watering pay packages offered to partners would be difficult to compete with, said Charlie Harvey, founder of legal broker Harvey and Partners.
“We have worked with law firms in the London market who have doubled or tripled their compensation when moving,” Harvey said. “We see no sign of cross-partner hiring slowing down in 2025.”
