Norton Rose Fulbright’s (NRF’s) EMEA managing partner, Peter Scott, has been appointed to serve a second three-year term.

Scott’s reappointment marks a seal of approval for his stewardship of the business through the Covid-19 pandemic.

He took up the role on 1 April 2020 just as lockdowns were sweeping across the world and one of his first actions was to reintroduce a flexible working scheme the firm pioneered during the financial crisis, although in the event the top law firms performed far better during the pandemic than originally anticipated.

The competition specialist is charged with overseeing the UK LLP, which spans the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asian offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Thailand. 

The LLP’s latest reported financial results — for the financial year ending 30 April 2022 — show fee income growing by a healthy 7.5% to £518.7m with operating profit up by 5% to £160.6m.

The early part of his tenure featured a restructuring of the firm’s business services operations in January 2021 that led to the loss of 132 jobs including 19 associates.

More recent strategic moves include the closure of the firm’s Moscow office in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the hiring of nine lawyers from rival international law firms to open an office in Düsseldorf, its fourth in Germany. 

Scott said: “We have made great progress over the last three years, notwithstanding wider challenges, and have a well-diversified international business with huge potential.” 

Last week, the global firm unveiled a much-reduced partner promotion round from the previous year, making up 36 partners across the network, down from 54 in 2022.

London accounted for five promotions, and there was one apiece across the rest of the LLP’s network, including in Luxembourg, Athens, Warsaw, Dubai, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Prior to assuming the managing partner role, he led the firm’s EMEA litigation and disputes team as well as its global antitrust and competition team.

Scott was a member of the City of London’s Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce, which issued a final report in November, and is on the judging panel of the Women and Diversity in Law Awards, which are hosted by GLP and unveiled a 150-strong shortlist last Friday (13 January).