Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling announce first partner promotions for A&O Shearman

Allen & Overy (A&O) and Shearman & Sterling (Shearman) today announce the first partner promotions for the combined firm, A&O Shearman. A total of 40 partners have been elected to the partnership by their current respective firms. A&O elected 32 partners and Shearman elected eight, consistent with the relative size of the two firms and their geographic footprints. They will join the A&O Shearman partnership upon the merger closing on May 1, 2024.

The promotions have been made across 15 different offices in 11 countries. In total, there were 13 promotions in the United States, nine in the United Kingdom,13 across Continental Europe, one in The Middle East and four in Asia.

Khalid Garousha, interim managing partner at A&O said:

"We are thrilled to welcome this exceptional group of lawyers to the A&O Shearman partnership. I am also pleased that 42% of those promoted across both firms are women, in line with our goal of increasing diversity. These partners will bring a wealth of expertise to our soon-to-be merged firm, providing exceptional service to our clients in the world’s most dynamic markets.”

Adam Hakki, senior partner at Shearman, said:

“I would like to congratulate this exceptionally talented group of lawyers on their promotions. They each have an outstanding track record of delivering for our clients and the firm, and they are a fitting group to be the first new partner class of A&O Shearman. The diversity, geographical breadth and range of expertise of these outstanding professionals demonstrates the quality and depth of the combined firm around the world. I am confident they will continue to accomplish great things and will be wonderful partners in every respect.”

The elected partners are:

Allen & Overy 

United States

New York 

Lena Kiely, International Capital Markets

Puja Patel, Corporate

Derek Poon, International Capital Markets

Washington D.C. 

Michael Sykes, Banking

Gideon Wiginton, Banking

United Kingdom

London

Tim Bates, International Capital Markets

Imogen Carr, Corporate

Vanessa Morgan, Management

Rebecca Noble, Banking

Rachel O'Reilly, Banking

Kate Pumfrey, Litigation

Alex Shandro, Corporate

Jason Symington, Banking

David Weaver, Corporate

Continental Europe 

Brussels, Belgium 

Axel de Backer, Banking

Amsterdam, Netherlands 

Luke Whibley, Banking

Paris, France

Laurie-Anne Ancenys, Corporate

Charles del Valle, Tax

Anne-Caroline Payelle, Corporate

Düsseldorf, Germany 

Catharina Glugla, Corporate

Munich, Germany 

Rauni Ahammer, Banking

Frankfurt, Germany 

Tim Drach, Tax

David Schmid, Litigation

Sebastian Schulz, Litigation

Luxembourg

Baptiste Aubry, International Capital Markets

Franz Kerger, Tax

Madrid, Spain

Ishtar Sancho, Tax

The Middle East

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Arash Koozehkanani, Litigation

Asia

Jakarta, Indonesia

Mohammad Andrew, International Capital Markets

Singapore

Matthew Del Rosso, Banking

Jessica Lee, Banking

Ayesha Thapar, Corporate

Shearman & Sterling

United States

New York 

Melisa Brower, Compensation, Governance and ERISA

Jonathan Cheng, Antitrust

Joshua Ebersole, Litigation

Jai Garg, Compensation, Governance and ERISA

Christopher Glenn, Mergers & Acquisitions

Leila Siddiky, Litigation

Washington D.C. 

Brian Hauser, Antitrust

Austin 

Michelle Kwan, Emerging Growth