Paul Lewis is Linklaters’ Firmwide Managing Partner, having been in the role since July 2021. As part of his role, Paul is responsible for the global management of Linklaters and chairs the firm’s Executive Committee, as well as sitting on the Partnership Board. Before taking on the role, Paul was Global Practice Head for the firm’s Finance Division, encompassing its Banking, Capital Markets, Energy & Infrastructure, Financial Regulatory, Investment funds, Real Estate, and Restructuring and Insolvency practices.

Prior to becoming Firmwide Managing Partner, Paul was a capital markets partner with a particular specialism in derivatives and structured securities. He was also Global Co-head of Innovation for Linklaters and advised on a range of fintech matters. He was at the forefront of Linklaters' distributed ledger technology and smart contract initiatives and the lead author of the joint ISDA and Linklaters paper on smart contracts, “Smart Contracts and Distributed Ledger – A Legal Perspective”.

He was a board member at Linklaters from 2013 to 2016 and a member of the Advisory Board of the Oxford University MSc in Law and Finance from 2011 to 2017. 

In May 2019, Paul was appointed to lead the Finance division at Linklaters, which encompasses the Firm’s Banking, Capital Markets, Energy & Infrastructure, Financial Regulatory, Investment Fund, Real Estate and Restructuring and Insolvency practices. In that role he sits on the ExCom of Linklaters. 

He is a solicitor of England and Wales, qualifying in 1999.

He graduated with first class honours in law at Oxford University and also holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School. He was a board member at Linklaters from 2013 to 2016 and a member of the Advisory Board of the Oxford University MSc in Law and Finance from 2011 to 2017. He is currently a member of the Linklaters' Executive Committee.