Bird & Bird demotes women partners
13 November 2009
Bird & Bird has come under fire after demoting the only female partners in its London real estate and corporate teams.

In May the firm moved Nipun Gupta from partner to consultant. The firm says this was because she'd taken on the role of Head of India, and Indian Bar regulations prohibited her from being a partner. That's despite her being based in London... And if this is simply a change of business card, surely Gupta's remuneration and voting rights remain the same? A spokesman refused to comment. He couldn't, however, deny that this has left the London corporate practice without a single female partner.

The only birds at Bird & Bird

The same can be said for the firm's London real estate group after Linda Fletcher was demoted from partner to Senior European Consultant. The spokesman said that this was for "economic reasons". Economic reasons which didn't affect the seven male partners still in the department.

The spokesman also claimed that with 17% of the London partnership being female Bird & Bird had a good reputation for promoting women. Although at the moment it seems to be making more of a reputation for demoting them.