First Woman to Lead a Top 10 Law Firm in England and Wales, Lesley MacDonagh, 1995

In 1995, Lesley MacDonagh was appointed as the managing partner of Lovell White Durrant (now Hogan Lovells). 1 It was the first time a woman had been elected to lead a top 10 law firm in England & Wales. At the time of her appointment, the firm comprised 1400 partners and associate lawyers spread across nine offices in Europe and Asia. By the time MacDonagh stepped down as managing partner, 11 years later, Lovells had doubled in size, due mostly to its merger with German firm Boesebeck Droste which she led at the beginning of the millennium. MacDonagh was voted ‘Legal Business Managing Partner of the Year’ for the year 2000 and was the first woman elected as a member of the Justinians, a previously all-male legal dining club.