US firms drive strong year of partner moves in London’s litigation market

Partner hires in London’s litigation market are set for another strong year, with the 35 lateral moves recorded so far in 2025 already surpassing last year’s total of 34 - according to new research by transatlantic legal recruiter Macrae.

The report highlights sustained activity in lateral moves in the disputes market over recent years. Moves in 2025 have been particularly common across IP, international arbitration and product liability, Macrae said, reflecting rising cross-border and technology-driven litigation.

The numbers

London’s litigation market has averaged more than 30 partner hires annually over the past five years, peaking at 47 in 2021. The 2025 YTD figure is already higher than the full-year numbers recorded in 2024 (34), 2022 (26) and 2020 (22).

According to Macrae, IP (including tech) accounted for 23% of moves, followed by international arbitration (17%) and product and professional liability (14%).

US firms continued to draw the largest share of partner moves, hiring 22 litigation partners so far in 2025, while the UK’s top 15 firms hired just 15. Clyde & Co led the way in 2025 with four partner hires, followed by CMS, Jones Day, Pinsent Masons and White & Case with three apiece.

Bigger picture

Big name individual moves this year have included Paul Weiss launching its London litigation practice with the hire of Akin’s disputes head Richard Hornshaw (followed soon afterwards by Leo Kitchen from Quinn Emanuel) as well as Pinsents recruiting a three-partner team from Deloitte and HSF Kramer hiring Ashurst’s real estate disputes head.

The findings reinforce London’s position as a global disputes hub. Reports this year revealed that the Commercial Court issued more than twice as many written judgments in the year to September 2024 as New York, the second-most-popular commercial court, while a 2025 Queen Mary University survey in collaboration with White & Case named London the world’s most popular arbitral seat, preferred by 34% of respondents.