Magic circle firm Allen & Overy has announced its latest global partner promotion round – making significant progress on its efforts to improve gender diversity.
Of the 36 newly promoted partners, 15 are women.
The firm vowed in 2017 to raise its game on addressing diversity in the partnership after what was then a record year of promotions saw just two women make the grade. Strategic priorities included reaching a target of 20% female partners by 2020, ensuring that from 2020, 30% of annual partner promotions were women.
When it published its pay gap report last year, the firm said 27% of its partnership in the UK were women, up from 20% in 2018. At associate level, it was 51%, 53% for trainees, and 67% in the business teams.
The latest promotions are effective from 1 May.
Global managing partner Gareth Price said: ‘The group reflects a very diverse range of talent. I’m also pleased to see a strong geographical spread and a breadth of practice and product specialisms, reflecting the quality and global reach of our new partners. Each member of the cohort brings different expertise and a wealth of experience in providing exceptional service to our clients.’
A third of the new partners are based in London.
