Dentons has made up five lawyers to partner in the UK, in a global promotions round that sees the number of overall appointments drop by a third year on year to 36.

The majority of the promotions are in North America, with 17 lawyers joining the partnership across the US and Canada.

In the UK, four lawyers have been promoted to partner in London, including disputes senior associate Tessa Blank, technology senior associate Simon Elliott, competition senior associate Christopher Graf and energy-focused managing associate Christopher Thomson

The firm has also appointed a new partner in Milton Keynes, construction counsel Jane Miles.

All UK promotions are effective from 1 May.

The round of promotions sees notably fewer lawyers making the step up to partnership than last year, when the firm promoted seven UK partners in a 54-strong round.

Women make up 15 of the 36 promotions (42%), a percentage increase on last year's promotions round when female lawyers constituted 35% of the cohort.

UK & Middle East chief executive officer Jeremy Cohen said: "We have come a long way over the past few years, bringing on board new offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Watford, as well as 50-plus partner hires, but investing in the next generation is an equally important part of this strategy and I am delighted to welcome these five very talented lawyers into the partnership."

This week, Dentons joined the growing number of law firms to have disclosed details of the pay gap at partner level, revealing that male partners at the UK arm of the international firm are paid on average 23% more than their female counterparts.

Dentons partner promotions in full

Edmonton Morgan Deacon, litigation and dispute resolution; Mandy England, estates and wealth preservation; Justine Lee, litigation and dispute resolution

Montreal Simon Gauthier, corporate

Ottawa Chase Irwin, corporate

Toronto Michael Beeforth, litigation and dispute resolution; Matthew Curtis, employment

Vancouver Jordan Schultz, restructuring

Amsterdam Dirk-Jan Gondrie, real estate

Mexico City Diego Campa, energy

Brussels Xiaoyi Tang, competition and antitrust

Frankfurt Thomas Voss, tax

Milan Davide Traina, litigation and dispute resolution

Moscow Konstantin Tretyakov, litigation and dispute resolution

Prague Eleanor Johnson, real estate; Tomas Osicka, banking and finance; Marketa Tvrda, real estate

Warsaw Piotr Staniszewski, real estate

Singapore Glenda Lee, corporate; Valmiki Nair, corporate; Mohamad Rizuan Bin Pathie, corporate

London Tessa Blank, dispute resolution; Simon Elliott, TMT; Christopher Graf, competition; Christopher Thomson, energy

Milton Keynes Jane Miles, construction

Atlanta Amanda Leech, corporate

Chicago Ashley Cox, real estate

Kansas City Kelli Wikoff, tax

New York Curtis Stefanak, corporate; Kristen Weil, international dispute resolution

Washington, DC Susan Banks, healthcare; Alanna Clair, commercial litigation; Melissa Gomez Nelson, white-collar and government investigations; Benjamin Keane, federal regulatory and compliance