Wragges makes up just one in promotions round

Regulatory litigation specialist Andrew Litchfield will join the firm's all-equity partnership from 1 May - becoming the eleventh partner in Wragges commercial litigation group.

The single promotion represents a significant drop from last year, when the firm made up nine new partners, with real estate and intellectual property among the main beneficiaries.

However, the 2007 partner promotion round saw only two lawyers elected to the partnership.

Wragges senior partner Quentin Poole said: "Andrew is an excellent lawyer whose clients appreciate his assured and practical approach to complex and high-pressure situations. Organisations face an unprecedented amount of regulation and need legal advisers they can trust to respond quickly and effectively. Andrew's promotion provides additional partner-level capability to this growing area."

Litchfield added: "Increased regulation means increased risk. Add in penalties which include criminal sanctions or huge fines, and it is clear why regulatory issues are high on the list of concerns for our major corporate clients."

The news comes after Legal Week revealed yesterday that Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O) have both delayed their partner promotions until after the completion of their respective partnership restructurings. CC is not expected to decide its new partners until the summer, while A&O is expected to make an announcement in May.

Click here for a full round-up of this year's partner promotions so far.

How satisfied are you? Take part in Legal Week Intelligence's 2009 Employee Satisfaction Survey.