Sidley promotes three in London after year of continued lateral growth

Sidley Austin has promoted three lawyers to partner in London as part of a 29-strong global round - a smaller overall cohort than last year, but one that keeps the City tally steady at three.

The newly promoted partners are private equity lawyer Florian Kamp, commercial litigation and disputes specialist Jonathan Lafferty, and global finance lawyer Azeem Sulemanji. Their promotions take effect on 1 January 2026.

Sidley’s London office currently counts around 55 partners.

A small internal class but a fast-growing office

While London promotions remain modest compared with some US rivals, Sidley has spent the past 18 months aggressively expanding its City bench through lateral hires. This year’s round is the first since the firm completed its headline-grabbing hiring spree from Latham, which saw Sidley lift at least nine partners across leveraged finance and capital markets.

This year, arrivals have included capital markets partner David Stewart from Latham and a three-partner funds team from Weil led by Ed Gander. The strategy is centred on building one of London’s strongest leveraged finance and private equity offerings with a heavy focus on sponsor clients.

What they said

Yvette Ostolaza, chair of Sidley’s management committee, said the new cohort had "demonstrated the attributes that are necessary to practice at the highest levels of our profession," adding that they had earned "the trust and respect of our partnership and our valued clients."

Executive committee chair Brian Fahrney said the class "indicates our sustained growth as an elite firm," adding that Sidley would continue to promote lawyers who "meet the needs of their clients day in and day out."