59 A&O Partners Down and Counting as Partnership Shuffle Continues

In the post-merger musical chairs at A&O Shearman, it seems quite a few partners couldn’t find a seat when the music stopped. Fifty nine partners have headed for the exit doors outside of Asia since the firm announced its plan to trim 10 percent of its global equity partnership last year.

According to Law.com’s recent tally, 25 of these departing partners hail from the US offices, with the remainder scattered across London, Europe, Africa, and Australia4. This exodus doesn’t even include the 15 partners who bid farewell from Asian offices, bringing the grand total to 74 partner departures worldwide.

A&O Shearman characterized these cuts as “a difficult but necessary step forward” following the May 2024 merger between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling. About 45 of the departing partners have already found new homes at competing firms,

What’s particularly puzzling is that despite this mass exodus, A&O Shearman reports maintaining approximately 800 partners globally – roughly the same headcount they had when announcing the cuts. Perhaps the firm has mastered the art of the revolving door?

Or maybe the finessing comes down to some other factor we haven’t yet figured.

The explanation might lie in recent news that the firm is promoting 33 new lawyers to partnership effective May 1, 2025. While some partners pack up their offices, the firm appears to be simultaneously restocking its shelves with fresh talent.

This partner reshuffling comes amid A&O Shearman’s transition to an all-equity partnership model with a three-tier modified lockstep system, categorizing partners as ‘entry,’ ‘core,’ or ‘super’. The firm also closed its Johannesburg office and discontinued its consulting division as part of the post-merger restructuring.