Wragges to make up partner trio as 2010 round kicks off

Wragges promotes three and adds Travers associate to partnership

Wragge & Co has become the first top 30 UK firm to announce its 2010 partner promotions, with the national firm selecting three lawyers to join its partnership.

Birmingham-based lawyers Paul Carberry and Sue Ryan have been made up to partner in the pension and construction teams respectively, while Munich-based intellectual property lawyer Alex Bayer has also been promoted to the partnership.

Carberry leads the six-lawyer public sector pensions team and becomes the firm's seventh partner in the overall pensions practice, while Ryan - a dispute resolution specialist - becomes the firm's sixth construction partner. Bayer becomes the tenth partner in the IP practice.

The promotions to the all-equity partnership will take effect from 1 May 2010 and will take the firm to 125 partners.

The promotion round is an improvement on last year's numbers when the firm made up just one new partner - regulatory litigation specialist Andrew Litchfield.

In addition to the internal promotions, Wragges has also hired private equity specialist David Marshall as a partner in the corporate practice. Marshall joined the firm earlier this month from Travers Smith, where he was an associate.

Wragges senior partner, Quentin Poole said: "In the grand scheme of things, looking out over a decade, the number of promotions is modest but equally I am happy we are able to promote these lawyers. It is a positive sign and reflects our mindset of continually investing in the firm's future."

News of the promotions comes after the firm announced earlier this year that it would be launching in Paris with the hire of a 10-partner team from its French referral firm Lefevre Pelletier & Associes (LPA).

The new office is expected to open later this year, subject to approval by the Paris Bar, and will be headed by joint managing partners Pierre Appremont and Simon Lowe.

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