Top 35 UK law firm Travers Smith has promoted five lawyers to partner in its latest round. 

The size of the cohort marks a step down from last year when the leading London independent firm promoted a record 11 lawyers to partner and brings it in line with the previous two years when the firm made up seven and five lawyers respectively. 

Two women have been included this time round, a small increase on last year’s 36% and again similar to 2021 and 2020, when women made up 43% and 40% of the total. Travers doesn’t set gender diversity targets for its partner promotions but a spokesperson noted that since 2016 the firm has 21 promoted women to the partnership. 

The round will help to replenish Travers’ London partner bench after a run of senior departues in the first quarter to rival firms including Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Dechert and Linklaters. 

This year’s new partners are a mixed bag in terms of practice area and reflect the firm's core areas of international alternative asset management, cross-border M&A and global disputes and investigations. 

Travers’ financial services and markets team has welcomed new partners Sam Brewer and Henriika Hara. Brewer’s practice covers advisory work and the regulatory aspects of transactions, reorganisations and fundraises for clients including alternative asset managers, trading venues and banks, while Hara specialises in financial services law and regulation with a focus on alternative asset management.

Meantime, Ben Lowen, who advises corporates, banks and PE funds on domestic and cross border public and private acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures and general corporate matters, got the nod in the corporate M&A and ECM team. 

The remaining promotions went to Ailie Murray, who advises clients on the full range of contentious and non contentious employment matters, including workplace investigations and disputes, and Will Sheridan, who specialises in advising private equity sponsors, banks and credit funds on multi-jurisdictional leveraged and acquisition finance transactions and was made up in the finance team. 

Travers’ acting senior partner, Siân Keall, commented: "I am delighted to welcome our five talented new partners to the partnership – their promotions are extremely well deserved, and I am confident each of them will make a valuable contribution to the future success of the business.

Keall stepped in as acting senior partner in January after senior partner Kathleen Russ began a period of leave for exceptional family reasons. Russ, who was re-elected for a second term last November, has subsequently returned to the role on a part-time basis but will stand down at the end of this month, with the firm set to elect its next senior partner in the autumn. 

Among the partners who resigned from the firm in the first quarter of 2023 were former private equity and financial sponsors group head Ian Shawyer, who joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in January, and funds duo Ed Ford and Sacha Gofton-Salmond, who joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett the following month.