U.K. top 100 law firms Winckworth Sherwood and Howard Kennedy have both announced management changes.
Winckworth Sherwood has elected its first-ever female senior partner, the firm announced on Wednesday. The firm’s head of employment and partnership practice Jo Keddie has been elected to the role. She joined the firm as a partner in 2010, according to a statement.
Keddie said in a statement: “We have some of the best minds in our market-leading practices, we are a truly diverse firm and we are positively contributing to not only our clients’ legal needs but to society more widely through our fantastic CSR programme and other initiatives.
“As the firm’s first female senior partner I will focus on building on our already enviable reputation as a diverse, inclusive, collegiate and welcoming place to work.”
Meanwhile, Howard Kennedy has re-appointed Craig Emden as its managing partner for a second four-year term, the fellow U.K. firm announced this week.
Emden has served in the role since 2013. The firm has also announced a three-year growth plan, targeting an £80 million annual revenue and growth to a 70-partner practice.
Emden said in a statement: “We have worked hard over the last four years to diversify our revenues to protect the firm through the economic cycle and to ensure we are able to provide top quality support to clients whatever their needs. The success we have had in doing so leaves us extremely well positioned to build on our progress and deliver broad-based, sustainable growth in the years ahead.”
The duo are the latest firms to announce management changes in recent months. Earlier in June, Slaughter and May announced a change in its executive management structure by scrapping two of the three roles and replacing them with a chief operating officer and a new managing partner.
In May, Linklaters elected global corporate head Aedamar Comiskey as its first ever female senior partner, while Simmons & Simmons elected London-based head of employment Julian Taylor as its new senior partner.
