Global law firm expands its partner class for 2022, featuring 54 lawyers from around the world.
Global law firm XYZ has announced the promotion of 54 lawyers to partner and director positions, effective January 1, 2022, in various locations worldwide. The promotions cover 11 practice areas, with litigation and disputes having the most representatives at 18 lawyers.
Promoted lawyers include Darren Smith and Geraldine Young, both in the practice area of litigation and disputes, based in Houston, United States. In the same practice area, Joseph Drapalski was promoted in Los Angeles, United States, and Paul Cartwright in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The intellectual property practice area saw the promotion of Eric Green, based in Austin, United States, and Anna Rudawski in New York, United States. In the area of employment and labor, Claudia Posluschny was promoted in Munich, and Kimberly Cheeseman in Houston, United States.
The practice area of projects was represented by Laura Kiwelu in London, United Kingdom, and Rebecca Abou-Chedid in Washington, DC, United States. The banking and finance practice area had Fiona Henderson in New York, United States, Veit Sahlfeld in Hamburg, and Alex Zekkos in London, United Kingdom.
The corporate, M&A and securities practice area saw the promotion of Alberta Yan and Blake Redwine in New York and Dallas, United States, respectively, and Bernd Dreier in Munich. The practice area of tax was represented by Justin Coddington in Houston, United States, and Matthew Buckle in London, United Kingdom.
The real estate practice area had Louisa Roe in London, United Kingdom, and the practice area of antitrust and competition was represented by Helen Fairhead in London, United Kingdom. The practice area of bankruptcy, financial restructuring and insolvency was represented by Rebecca Winthrop in Los Angeles, United States. The practice area of information governance, privacy and cybersecurity was represented by Annabelle Wheeler, based in Munich/London.
The promotions also included Dimitri Millas in the practice area of banking and finance, based in Houston, United States, and Denton Nichols in the practice area of litigation and disputes, based in Houston, United States. Nathan Baum was promoted in the practice area of litigation and disputes, based in Dallas, United States, and Jared Kaplan in the practice area of corporate, M&A and securities, based in New York, United States.
Rafe Schaefer and Victoria Corder were both promoted in the practice area of litigation and disputes, based in Houston and New York, United States, respectively. Rachel Chan was promoted in the practice area of corporate, M&A and securities, based in Hong Kong.
In Canada, Robin Acworth, Veronique Barry, Scott Boucher, Brian Chau, Matthew Choi, Jenna Anne de Jong, Russell Dufault, Alison FitzGerald, Caroline Jodoin, Jonathan Lafrance, Brigitte LeBlanc-Lapointe, Jennifer McPherson, Brian Milne, Fahad Siddiqui, Joshua Sprague, Nikita Stepin, Tim Stewart were promoted in various practice areas.
In Australia, Kate Green, Harriet Oldmeadow, and Nick Sinclair were promoted in the practice areas of litigation and disputes, and banking and finance, respectively.
Gerry Pecht, Global Chief Executive of XYZ, praised the promoted lawyers for their industry knowledge, business acumen, and innovative solutions. Marianne McMahon was promoted as general counsel, based in London, United Kingdom.
In 2025, the current global gender diversity target for women in a leading global law firm such as Baker McKenzie is 40% women in partnership, leadership roles, lateral additions, lawyer promotions, and senior business services hires, alongside 40% men and 20% flexible (including women, men, or non-binary persons)[2]. This quantitative target is a notable benchmark among global law firms actively publicizing gender diversity goals in 2025[2]. Other firms emphasize qualitative commitments and best practices with no widely publicized fixed percentages.
References:
[1] "Law360: The Top 100 Law Firms For Women In 2021." Law360, 2021, https://www.law360.com/articles/1380587/the-top-100-law-firms-for-women-in-2021
[2] "Baker McKenzie Sets 2025 Gender Diversity Target." The American Lawyer, 2020, https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2020/06/16/baker-mckenzie-sets-2025-gender-diversity-target/
[3] "Morgan Lewis's Commitment to Gender Equality." Morgan Lewis, 2021, https://www.morganlewis.com/en-us/about/diversity-and-inclusion/women-at-morgan-lewis/
The banking and finance practice area at XYZ global law firm has new partners in Fiona Henderson in New York, United States, Veit Sahlfeld in Hamburg, and Alex Zekkos in London, United Kingdom.
Promoted lawyers Gerry Pecht, Global Chief Executive of XYZ, highly commends the promoted lawyers for their industry knowledge, business acumen, and innovative solutions.
