Jones Day demotes five London partners to of counsel rank

Jones Day has demoted a number of London partners over the last year, with five former partners now serving as of counsel at the firm.

The demotions, first reported on legal blog RollOnFriday, equate to nearly 10% of the US firm's London partnership, which currently lists 48 partners on its website. The office also lists 16 of counsel and one counsel, in addition to assistants.

Jones Day was unavailable for comment. However, a statement from an external agency confirmed the demotions, reading: "We can confirm that five lawyers in the London office of Jones Day have changed roles from partner to of counsel throughout 2009."

News of the role changes follows a number of lateral partner moves over the course of the year, with the London office losing one partner and gaining two in recent months.

In September, litigation partner Barry Donnelly left for Macfarlanes while Mayer Brown competition and antitrust head Frances Murphy joined as London head of antitrust, and in October Dundas & Wilson partner Hamish Lal joined the firm as head of construction.

In March the US firm's City office added LG properly litigator Richard Anyamene as a partner, with the London base also gaining four new partners in its most recent promotion round in December 2008. At that point the firm had 53 partners in the City.

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