London partner Karen Davies takes top role from 1 August
Ashurst has become the latest major international law firm to elect a female leader, with UK head of corporate Karen Davies set to become its new global chair later this summer.
Davies is a member of the firm’s global board and specialises in mergers and acquisitions as well as equity capital markets work. She has been a partner since 2012.
The top lawyer succeeds Ben Tidswell who is standing down from the partnership and has accepted a judicial appointment as a panel chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Davies will take up the four-year term on 1 August 2021.
Commenting on her election success, Ashurst’s soon-to-be global chair said:
“I am excited about the future and what Ashurst will achieve. We have an incredibly strong platform and a fantastic culture that I am proud to be part of. It is a real privilege to serve the firm, my partners and contribute towards our ongoing success in this role.”
There’s been a flurry of top female appointments in recent months.
Aedamar Comiskey is set to become Linklaters‘ first female senior partner later this summer, while Hogan Lovells appointed its first female solo chair, Marie-Aimée de Dampierre, in February. Elsewhere, Georgia Dawson assumed the role of senior partner at Freshfields earlier this year and Herbert Smith Freehills installed Rebecca Maslen-Stannage as its first female senior partner and chair earlier this month.