International firm Simmons & Simmons has promoted just six lawyers to its global partnership this year – less than half than in 2019.

Six partners, four of whom are women, have been elected across Europe and Asia-Pacific, with two in based in London and one in Bristol. The promotion round is the smallest since the financial crash, and significantly down on last year when 15 lawyers made partner.

Simmons & Simmons, along with Ashurst, delayed appointing partners in April because of coronavirus. The promotions will take effect from 1 August 2020.

Colin Passmore, senior partner, said: ‘I would like to congratulate our new partners on this huge achievement and welcome them to the partnership. This is a talented group of lawyers that have shown a remarkable commitment to our firm’s clients, culture and values.

‘I’m confident they will help us to navigate these turbulent times and continue to grow and strengthen our market-leading offering across the globe. I’m delighted that more than half of our new partners this year are women, demonstrating the firm’s commitment to gender diversity within the partnership and the legal profession as a whole.’