Pallas Partners LLP has appointed its first non-lawyer as partner, Linda Penfold and promoted three associates to counsel: Anastasia Cembrovska, Kimmie Fearnside and Alessia de Quincey. Set up as an alternative business structure, Pallas is a top-end, conflict-free litigation practice with offices in London and New York. De Quincey and Fearnside were promoted to counsel in London, while Cembrovska is counsel in New York.
“We structured Pallas Partners as an alternative business structure (ABS) to allow us to innovate in ways clients want us to, and to be nimble in how we’re structured and how we grow,” said Natasha Harrison, Founder and Managing Partner of Pallas. “Linda’s appointment demonstrates our ability to give non-lawyers career development and the route to partnership. This is crucial as non-lawyers play an increasingly important part in the operations of a law firm; I couldn’t have founded Pallas and seen it grow as quickly as it has done without Linda’s support.”
“I am also delighted to be promoting three associates to counsel, in recognition of their outstanding work and dedication over what has been an incredible past year for the firm. I am especially pleased that all of these promotions came during maternity leave, which speaks to the fact we are committed to disrupting the inflexible old law firm model and promoting lawyers on output, not time spent in the office.”
Linda Penfold, Pallas’ Chief Administrative Officer, has over 20 years’ of leadership experience in global law firms, managing operations across multiple jurisdictions. At Pallas she leads the business services functions, office operations and adds strategic vision and continuous improvement to client service.
Anastasia Cembrovska’s practice in New York focuses on complex commercial litigation, on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants, in state and federal courts. She has worked on high-profile matters including creditor rights and adversary bankruptcy matters, antitrust class actions, white collar matters, and contract disputes.
Alessia de Quincey advises clients on a range of contentious and regulatory issues. Her broad legal practice focuses on investigations, international arbitration and commercial litigation, and she has been involved in a number of high-profile and high-value cases, acting for individuals and corporates. Alessia is recognised in Legal 500 UK 2023 and was a “standout associate” in Legal 500 2021.
Also in London, Kimmie Fearnside has a broad practice in London focusing on high value court litigation and complex international arbitration matters. She has experience in LCIA and ICC arbitration disputes acting for clients from a variety of sectors, as well as acting investor-side in an investment treaty matter. She has also represented financial institutions before England’s High Court and in a broad spectrum of advisory matters. Kimmie leads Pallas’ pro bono practice, focusing on her interest in climate change law and international human rights law issues, including representing Client Earth in their litigation against Directors of Shell.