Three candidates left in the race to succeed Charlie Jacobs as Linklaters’ senior partner
It looks like Magic Circle law firm Linklaters could shortly have a woman senior partner as the trend towards female lawyers heading major law firms continues.
Linklaters have seen the departure of the only male contender for the top role for the person to succeed the current lead partner, Charlie Jacobs.
Former contender Tom Shropshire is to take on a new role as general counsel at the drinks giant firm Diageo.
The Shropshire departure leaves three women in the race to the top: global corporate head Aedamar Comiskey, Western Europe head Claudia Parzani, and London corporate and M&A partner Sarah Wiggins.
The shift in the race means a woman will almost certainly land the top job and lead one of London’s elite Magic Circle law firms and become another in the slowly growing ranks of the female law firm leaders.
Georgia Dawson became the first female Magic Circle leader when she took up her role as senior partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in January.
The move towards having more female law leaders has accelerated in recent years for firms in multiple jurisdictions, including in the United States.
Other major law firms in the US and elsewhere have been slowly moving towards appointing female law firm leaders. In the US recently, Kelley Drye & Warren has appointed Dana Rosenfeld as its next managing partner at the beginning of the year, while Penelope Warne at CMS, Lesley McDonagh at Lovells and Sonya Leydecker at Herbert Smith have also taken top roles at their law firms.
