DLA Piper has made up 34 new partners across its offices around the world – including two London lawyers – marking a fall of more than 40% on the total of 58 promoted at the firm last year.

A total of four new partners have been made up in the UK, down from 12 last year, with this year's quartet including City duo Lee McGuirk (intellectual property) and Julie Romer (finance) along with Kirstie Allerton (finance) in Leeds and Rob McKie (corporate) in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, in mainland Europe seven partners have been made up, ten fewer than last year, with one promotion each in Madrid, Warsaw, Vienna, Kiev, Istanbul, Frankfurt and Bucharest.

The firm's New York office is the only base to have received more than two new partners with six promotions.

Broken down by practice area, litigation and regulatory has received the largest intake of partners with nine, followed by finance and projects and intellectual property and technology, both of which have seen six promotions each.

DLA global co-chairman Tony Angel (pictured) said: "The talent at DLA Piper is exceptional and we are very pleased to welcome these accomplished lawyers to the partnership. As we continue to work towards our goal of being the leading global business law firm the new partners will play a key role in providing the best possible service to our clients across the world."

Elsewhere, Kennedys has also announced its 2013 promotions, making up six lawyers to its partnership including five in the UK. This year's group – which represents a 50% increase on last year's total of four new partners – includes City employment specialist Fiona Morgan.

The firm's Belfast base has received two new partners with professional indemnity pair Raymond Gilmore and Graham Moore making the grade, while elsewhere in the UK, personal injury specialist Ron Ruston in Chelmsford and Sheffield construction lawyer Sarah Maylor have also been made up.

The remaining new partner is Hong Kong insurance lawyer Joanie Ko, with the six promotions bringing Kennedys' worldwide partner headcount to 155.

Kennedys' senior partner Nick Thomas said: "It is particularly satisfying to see Kennedys' trainees making partner. This underscores our commitment to professional development and talent management. I'm also proud that we continue to have one of the highest proportions of female partners among the top 30 law firms."

DLA Piper partner promotions in full

Atlantic City, US
Timothy Lowry, finance

Boston, US
Cara Nelson, real estate

Brisbane, Australia
Dan Brown, finance & projects

Bucharest, Romania
Monica Georgiadis, employment

Canberra, Australia
Sharon Rowe, intellectual property and technology

Chicago, US
Gregg Graines, real rstate
Michael Kasdin, finance

Dallas, US
Dania Duncan Moreno, tax

Frankfurt, Germany
Michael Holzhauser, litigation and regulatory

Istanbul, Turkey
Jonathan Clarke, corporate

Kiev, Ukraine
Natalia Pakhomovska, intellectual property and technology

Leeds, UK
Kirstie Allerton, finance and projects

London, UK
Lee McGuirk, intellectual property and technology
Julie Romer, finance and projects

Los Angeles, US
Stephen Weerts, tax

Madrid, Spain
Miguel Baz, tax

New York, US
Tamar Duvdevani, intellectual property and technology
Cara Edwards, litigation and regulatory
Frank Jackson, tax
Shmuel Klahr, corporate
Douglas Walter Mateyashuk, litigation and regulatory
John Vukelj, litigation and regulatory

Northern Virginia, US
Tao Xu, intellectual property and technology

Palo Alto, US
Carrie L. Williamson, intellectual property and technology

Perth, Australia
David Shaw, litigation and regulatory

Raleigh, US
Christopher Russell Stambaugh, finance

Sacramento, US
Todd Michael Noonan, litigation and regulatory

Seattle, US
Megan Lee Muir, corporate

Sheffield, UK
Rob McKie, corporate

Sydney, Australia
Jacques Jacobs, litigation and regulatory

Tampa, US
Colin Thompson, litigation and regulatory

Vienna, Austria
Stephan Nitzl, employment

Warsaw, Poland
Jacek Gizinsk, corporate

Washington DC, US
John Holahan, litigation and regulatory