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Senior City lawyers have changed jobs in record numbers this year, as the aggressive expansion of US law firms seeking private capital in London has fueled further associate poaching.
Law firms in the capital have so far hired 668 associates in 2025, according to figures from Edwards Gibson, the highest number of moves since the legal recruiter began collecting data in 2007 and an increase of 21 per cent on last year.
US private equity giant Kirkland & Ellis has added the largest number of partners (19), followed by firms such as White & Case and Baker McKenzie, as US groups continue to invest in strengthening their private equity practices in London.
“These record figures continue a three-year wave of associate hiring at law firms in London which, for the first time, saw more than 600 moves,” said Scott Gibson, founder of Edwards Gibson, whose figures take into account the moves announced on December 22.
Gibson added that consolidation and the need to invest in technology and data, particularly artificial intelligence, had also contributed to a strong hiring market.
Hiring associates was once rare in the City of London, where senior lawyers tended to stay with the same firm for their entire careers.
But the insurgency of major U.S.-founded companies such as Kirkland and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in London lit a fire under the market. America’s largest firms have significantly increased their headcount in the City in a bid to secure more work from their American private equity clients in Europe.
“We continue to see significant growth potential in the European private capital market and are investing for the long term by developing, promoting and attracting the best talent,” said Matthew Elliott, member of Kirkland’s executive committee.
Market churn has come as large law firms also make substantial investments in purchasing and developing AI tools, creating pressure to shore up profitability with the help of high-billing partners.
Some recruitments this year aimed to replace departing partners. The Paul Hastings firm, founded in Los Angeles, lost 19 partners in London this year and hired nine. The company said its London turnover is expected to increase by 20 per cent this year.
British “magic circle” firm A&O Shearman also saw 19 partners leave for other firms, a year after the merger of the former Allen & Overy and New York firm Shearman & Sterling. The company also cut 10 percent of its partners following the deal.
Lawyers moving from non-associate roles to partnerships accounted for 21 percent of hires in 2025, reflecting the growing number of employee partnerships in American companies especially. Employee partnership allows firms to attract more young lawyers with the offer of partnership from day one without diluting the equity pool.
Mid-sized firms have also attempted to take advantage of the strong market to recruit lawyers from elite firms.
“Our employees and clients benefit from the fact that we are very different from other companies in the market: we are eager to invest in our international network, not shrink it,” said Emily Monastiriotis, managing partner of Simmons & Simmons, which was among the top recruiters this year.
“This proposal led us to hire more and more partners from the highest revenue companies.”
However, Gibson predicted that this year could be the last period of the rise, even if factors such as law firm consolidation and a more flexible partnership structure keep the rate of associate hiring in London above long-term averages.
“Cyclical tailwinds [such as private capital] will flow back. . . there are only a limited number of ‘star’ private equity, debt financing and private equity teams left that have not moved,” Gibson said.
