Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has promoted 54 lawyers to its partnership across 19 offices with the proportion of women exceeding the 40% benchmark for the third year in a row despite the total number of promoted women lawyers dipping slightly from last year’s round.   

Twenty-three (43%) of the new partner cohort – known as directors in South Africa – are women, down by two from last year’s round when 25 women (53%) made the cut in a 47-strong promotion round.

Despite the dip, the tally means NRF once again managed to meet its ongoing gender diversity target of 40% women in its overall partnership, leadership roles, lawyer promotions, lateral additions and senior business service hires. 

The firm’s North American offices received the largest chunk of the promotions, with 35 lawyers making the cut in the US (18) and Canada (17). There were nine promotions in London – up from eight in 2020 and 2019 – and four in Germany, although the rest of the firm's European network missed out this year.

Three promotions were handed out in Australia – compared to six last year – with the remaining spots going to Rachel Chan (corporate) and Daniel Ng (litigation and disputes) in Hong Kong and Paul Cartwright (litigation and disputes) in South Africa. 

The promotions spanned 11 global practice areas with litigation and disputes (18); corporate, M&A and securities (10) and banking and finance (9) accounting for more than half the total.

NRF chief executive Gerry Pecht said: "I am especially proud that women account for more than 40 percent of our partner promotions for the third straight year, aligning with our ongoing gender diversity target of 40 percent women in our overall partnership, leadership roles, lawyer promotions, lateral additions and senior business services hires."

Reed Smith also announced its new partners today, with 31 lawyers making the cut, up from 29 last year. Some 42% of the cohort are women with the class defined as 22% diverse by the firm. There were nine promotions in London and two in Hong Kong; the rest were in the US.

The full list of new NRF partners

Australia
Kate Green (litigation and disputes, Sydney)
Harriet Oldmeadow (litigation and disputes, Sydney)
Nick Sinclair (banking and finance, Perth)

Canada
Robin Acworth (corporate, M&A and securities, Calgary)
Véronique Barry (corporate, M&A and securities, Québec)
Scott Boucher (litigation and disputes, Vancouver)
Brian Chau (intellectual property, Toronto)
Matthew Choi (banking and finance, Vancouver)
Jenna Anne de Jong (litigation and disputes, Ottawa)
Russell Dufault (banking and finance, Toronto)
Alison FitzGerald (litigation and disputes, Ottawa)
Caroline Jodoin (employment and labor, Montréal)
Jonathan Lafrance (tax, Montréal)
Brigitte LeBlanc-Lapointe (corporate, M&A and securities, Ottawa)
Jennifer McPherson (corporate, M&A and securities, Calgary)
Brian Milne (tax, Calgary)
Fahad Siddiqui (litigation and disputes, Toronto)
Joshua Sprague (real estate, Ottawa)
Nikita Stepin (intellectual property, Montréal)
Tim Stewart (banking and finance, Toronto)

Germany
Bernd Dreier (corporate, M&A and securities, Munich)
Claudia Posluschny (employment and labor, Munich)
Veit Sahlfeld (banking and finance, Hamburg)
Annabelle Wheeler (litigation and disputes, Munich/London)

Hong Kong
Rachel Chan (corporate, M&A and securities, Hong Kong)
Daniel Ng (litigation and disputes, Hong Kong)

South Africa*
Paul Cartwright (litigation and disputes, Johannesburg)

UK
Matthew Buckle (litigation and disputes, London)
Zayba Drabu (litigation and disputes, London)
Helen Fairhead (antitrust and competition, London)
Laura Kiwelu (projects, London)
James Lockwood (litigation and disputes, London)
Marianne McMahon (general counsel, London)
Louisa Roe (real estate, London)
Nicolas Sirtoli (corporate, M&A and securities, London)
Alex Zekkos (banking and finance, London)

US
Rebecca Abou-Chedid (projects, Washington, DC)
Nathan Baum (litigation and disputes, Dallas)
Kimberly Cheeseman (employment and labor, Houston)
Justin Coddington (tax, Houston)
Victoria Corder (litigation and disputes, New York)
Joseph Drapalski (litigation and disputes, Los Angeles)
Eric Green (intellectual property, Austin)
Fiona Henderson (banking and finance, New York)
Jared Kaplan (corporate, M&A and securities, New York)
Dimitri Millas (banking and finance, Houston)
Denton Nichols (litigation and disputes, Houston)
Blake Redwine (corporate, M&A and securities, Dallas)
Anna Rudawski (information governance, privacy and cybersecurity, New York)
Rafe Schaefer (litigation and disputes, Houston)
Darren Smith (intellectual property, Houston)
Rebecca Winthrop (bankruptcy, financial restructuring and insolvency, Los Angeles)
Alberta Yan (corporate, M&A and securities, New York)
Geraldine Young (litigation and disputes, Houston)

*Lawyers in South Africa receive promotions to director instead of partner.