Simmons & Simmons has promoted eight lawyers to its partnership today (1 May), with half based in the City.

The number of new partners is one up on last year when the firm made up seven lawyers, with four based in London, but is down on 2012 when ten were promoted.

Simmons' London office has added real estate partner Ali Crosthwaite and financial services partners Craig Bisson, Devarshi Saksena and Simon Whiteside.

The firm's Paris, Milan, Tokyo and Frankfurt offices have each had one new partner added to their headcount.

The finance group has taken in the bulk of the promotions, with three in financial services and one in financial markets. The corporate team has gained two partners, while disputes and real estate have added one each. Two of this year's new partner intake are female.

Simmons senior partner Colin Passmore (pictured) said: ''Recognising and promoting the talent that exists within our firm is key to us achieving our ambitious growth plans.

"Ours is a high performance culture, and these eight outstanding individuals amply demonstrated their ambition, talent, and commitment to our clients and the firm."

Simmons partner promotions in full

Ali Crosthwaite – London, real estate
Christophe Fichet – Paris, corporate & commercial
Craig Bisson – London, financial services
Devarshi Saksena – London, financial services
Laura Orlando – Milan, dispute resolution
Richard Kramer – Tokyo, corporate & commercial
Simon Whiteside – London, financial services
Thomas Scharfenberg – Frankfurt, financial markets