“Although the firm has been around for 180 years, we only elected our first litigation partner in 1971,” says Michael Bennett, the head of Linklaters’ dispute resolution division.
Until 2014, dispute resolution did not exist as a standalone division at the firm. Now, with 55 partners, it accounts for just over 10% of the firm’s total partnership. And while it remains the smaller sibling of Linklaters’ other two core divisions – corporate and finance & projects – Bennett says he has been given a “mandate to grow” the disputes offering.
