Travers Smith LLP is pleased to announce that Kathleen Russ has been elected Senior Partner for a second term, with effect from 1 July 2023.

Kathleen was first elected Travers Smith's Senior Partner on 1 July 2019, having been a partner in the Tax Department since 2001, and Head of the Tax Department from July 2007 to January 2017.

Kathleen has for a number of years occupied a strategic and leadership role in the firm helping shape and execute Travers Smith's business strategy, initially as a member of the firm's Partnership Board. Kathleen also co-Chair's the firm's International Board, Chair's the Diversity and Inclusion Board and the firm's Audit committee, with all those roles reflecting the importance that she ascribes to those issues.

Commenting on her re-appointment, Travers Smith’s senior partner Kathleen Russ said:

"It is a great privilege to be Travers Smith’s senior partner and I am delighted to be re-elected for a second term. The last few years have thrown up a number of challenges no one could have anticipated, and as we move beyond the pandemic, but into increasingly uncertain economic times, it is more important than ever that we focus on investing in our future and our people, and driving forwards our acceleration in our three core areas of focus: in the international alternative asset management sector, in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and in our global disputes and investigations work.

I have a deep-seated belief in the power of the team, the power of effective collaboration and in the power of harnessing and nurturing talent and I believe we do all these things exceptionally well at Travers Smith – this is our culture and this is what makes the firm truly great, and a wonderful place to work."

Managing Partner Edmund Reed added:

"Kath has done a fantastic job as senior partner over the last few years and I am delighted she has been re-appointed for a second term. Her re-election signals the stability and continuity of the firm's leadership and the confidence of the partnership in the firm's direction, particularly reassuring in the turbulent times we are all living through.  I am excited to continue working closely on the ambitious projects and initiatives we have already embarked upon together."

Under Kathleen's and more recently Edmund's leadership, the firm has:

• Acted on over 130 private and public M&A transactions and over 30 equity capital markets transactions in the last two years.
  
  
• Acted on over 160 private equity backed transactions since 2020 and grown its cross-practice Asset Management business by a third (34%) in the last four years;
  
  
• Represented HPE and 'substantially succeeded' in their fraud claims against Mike Lynch and Sushovan Hussain in the "tech trial of the century" arising out of HP's acquisition of Autonomy, a FTSE100 software company, in 2011. This is a great example of our multi-disciplinary tech sector work;
  
  
• Launched its first formal international secondment programme with secondees from USA, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Spain;
  
  
• Formalised and accelerated its offering in the ESG space, with a thriving cross-practice group offering market-leading advice, which now includes over 15 partners and more than 50 lawyers from across the firm;
  
  
• Promoted a record 11 new partners to the partnership in July 2022 reflecting the firm's acceleration in its three core areas of focus: the international alternative asset management sector, in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and in our global disputes and investigations work.
  
  
• Appointed its first Pro Bono partner with the practice having tripled in size over the past two years, and spearheaded a number of award-winning initiatives include the launch of Domestic Abuse Response Alliance, a multi-firm advocacy alliance to represent survivors of domestic abuse who are not eligible for legal aid but who cannot afford to pay for private representation;
  
  
• Rolled out the Mindful Business Charter commitments, a wellbeing initiative that has been introduced to support an enjoyable and sustainable career for lawyers.